That Morning
It was a warm spring’s sunny morning at Lake Malawi. It looked very peaceful indeed but below the waves, the fish were waking up.
Sofro, a cheerful female electric yellow cichlid, and her friends were happily eating some snails they had found in the sand.
‘Oooh, I’m so full. I can’t eat anything more!’ said Asfar, a careful male electric yellow cichlid.
‘Me too,’ agreed Sofro. ‘But, Alhamdulillah, we have enough food.’
‘Then let’s play something,’ said Aswad, a boisterous male flowerhorn cichlid.
‘What about…..?’ said Jameela, a beautiful female golden severum, but she was interrupted by Aswad.
‘Tag! Got you! Got you!’ Aswad said.
‘No, not tag!’ said Jameela.
‘Hide and seek?’ suggested Asfar.
‘Let’s play Big Fish!’ said Aswad. Big Fish was a game they had invented themselves. One of them would be the Big Fish and the others had to swim quickly and hide in case they got eaten.
‘I’ll be the Big Fish!’ said Asfar.
‘Okay. 1..2..3..START!’ said Aswad, rushing around and around before he said start.
Asfar swam after Aswad. Aswad had disappeared. Asfar began to search for Aswad.
‘Assalamu alaikum, Asfar!’ said a voice.
Asfar looked up, startled. It was Abyad, a white big fish, spotted with brown spots, looking rather worried.
‘Oh, wa alaikum assalam, Abyad. What is the matter?’ Asfar replied, curiously.
‘It’s not good. A group of other big fish heard that I was friends with you and they began to laugh at me and you. I heard them planning to come down here. I just escaped in time,’ said Abyad, in a low and cautious voice.
‘Oh no! What are we going to do?’ exclaimed Asfar. ‘I’ll go and tell the others. Come with me!’
They swam back to the others. There was Aswad, amongst the others, grinning all over his face!
‘Asfar, you couldn’t find….’ Aswad broke off when he saw the serious faces of Asfar and Abyad. ‘Why, what has happened?’
Abyad told the others what he had told Asfar. They listened with their faces grave.
‘So those other big fish are hunting us down?’ asked Sofro.
‘Yes. You had better hide quickly. I don’t know what they might do!’ said Abyad.
‘We don’t need to fear anyone. Allah is with us!’ Sofro said.
‘In that case, we won’t hide. We’ll be brave and trust Allah!’ said Jameela.
Everyone agreed with them except Abyad.
‘But they are dangerous!’ he said.
‘Allah is stronger than them,’ Aswad said.
‘Well, do what you want. But I don’t feel easy in my mind somehow,’ said Abyad.
‘Just make zikr and dua,’ suggested Asfar.
‘Okay. SubhanaAllah, La hawla wala quwwata illa billah!’ Abyad said.
They said those phrases over and over again together. After that, they did feel better. Abyad said goodbye and went off to his home, trying to not feel worried.
‘What shall we do? I’m bored,’ said Asfar.
Nobody particularly wanted to play anything most unusually. They talked about the big fish.
‘It’s funny. We was playing the Big Fish game and it turned true!’ Asfar said.
‘Yes, that’s so cool, Subhana Allah,’ Jameela said.
‘I’m going to visit Sawda,’ Sofro said, swimming away.
‘Okay, Sofro. Do be careful!’ Asfar called after her.
‘Don’t worry. I’ll be extra careful,’ Sofro called back. She was soon out of sight.
‘I do hope she’ll be okay,’ Jameela said.
‘She can look after herself,’ Aswad said.
‘Yes. But in case, those big fish finds her?’ asked Asfar.
‘You’re right. I’m going after her,’ Jameela said. ‘Baydo’s cave is over there too and Sofro and I can keep each other company then.’
‘Okay,’ said Aswad.
She set off towards Baydo’s cave. The two boys, left behind, felt very bored.
‘Let’s go and play Big Fish,’ Aswad said.
‘Oooh yes! At least, we can practice hiding and swimming quickly,’ Asfar said.
They played Big Fish. Sofro and Jameela joined them later on too. They had only chatted a little. It was soon afternoon. They ate some larvae with great appetite for they were hungry with their game. When they finished eating, they wondered what to do next.
‘Let’s look for a hiding place,’ suggested Aswad at last.
So they looked for a hiding place and found one. It was a little cave that was in an area, full of greenery, called the Green Area and well hidden. They would not have found it if Jameela hadn’t swam and nearly crashed into it. They put inside it some leaves to eat if they had to hide for a long time.
‘Though, I don’t think we are going to hide there,’ said Jameela.
‘Yeah,’ said Asfar.
‘Let’s go to bed now,’ said Aswad, most surprisingly for he usually ate something before he went to bed.
‘Then, you don’t want to eat anything before?’ asked Sofro, mischievously.
‘I didn’t mean that. I meant after we ate something, of course!’ said Aswad at once
‘Really?’ said Jameela but Aswad was already rushing out of the cave.
They ate some shrimps and snails and went to bed, sleepily.
‘Good night, everyone!’ said Jameela.
‘Have a good sleep!’ said Sofro.
They soon fell asleep and dreamed of big fish that were chasing them. The tiny moon disappeared behind a cloud. The night became cloudy and darker than the nights before it. It looked very creepy and strange.
