Gulpy's Great Leap (continued)

They waited for a long time to see if Skimpy would plop back. When at last the realization sank clear, the realization that Skimpy had gone out of the tank to freedom, there was an uproar. The fishes spoke of his bravery and his greatness against the overwhelming odds.

Deep inside, Gulpy felt sad. He loved Skimpy and had been sad to see him go. But yet, it was sadness filled with happiness. Skimpy was free. That mattered. Now it was his turn. He would try it tomorrow. He would follow Skimpy to freedom.

He told the Wise One about his decision. He would keep the flames of freedom alive.

The Wise One said nothing for a while. Then he spoke. "I think you shouldn't try it. There are dangers and absolutely no guarantee you'll reach freedom and the Great Pond."

Gulpy found this attitude and sudden about-face puzzling but nothing would stop him now.

"I'll go;" he said firmly, "I'll go and tell the others about the tank. Perhaps, we'll all come back to lead the others to the Great Pond." The fish gathered the next day to see Gulpy's flight to Freedom. There was so much chattering. Blower was telling the others about the angelfish having some sort of phobia. "First Skimpy, now Gulpy. These angelfishes are never satisfied with their lot."

Gulpy said nothing. Blower was like that. Complacent. Wasn't that the word?

Gulpy backed to the end of the tank the way Skimpy had done, took a deep breath and darted forward. He felt an icy dampness grip him. He felt himself flit in mid-air and then a sharp pain on his side. He had fallen on something soft and yellow.

Just then, the awful truth drove home.

He couldn't breathe. He wasn't in the Great Pond. He was suffocating. He was dying. He tossed and turned. He leapt with all his strength. There was nothing. No water. Nothing

He couldn't remember how long he lay there. It was definitely longer than the time he spent in the net.

Then he felt something warm lift him. Two huge eyes peered at him from the darkness. He heard a faint scream.

"He'll die. Put him back. I wonder why they do it. It's the second one this week."

He felt a gentle plop. And water. He realized he could breathe again. Had he reached the Great Pond? He looked around. The scene was unmistakable. It was the tank.

Suddenly the deception dawned on him. The Wise One. He had to see him. He darted to the large shell under which the Wise One always hid. He was there.

"You knew, didn't you?" Gulpy screamed, "You knew there was no Great Pond. You knew there was death out there, didn't you? That's why you weren't too happy to let us go. We would expose you, the lies you told..."

The Wise One was silent.

From the corner of his eyes Gulpy saw the other fishes.

Blower had seen him. He was telling the others.

"Why?" Gulpy pleaded, "Why?"

The Wise One broke his silence. "There is a Great Pond out there. It is there. But it is too far away for us to reach. When we were caught we could have escaped from the boat into the pond. Then;yes. But now it is too far away." "Then why did you speak of it, if it was impossible to reach?" Gulpy asked, more soberly now.

"There will always be," the Wise One said, 'those who long for greater things. Freedom. Ambition sometimes. Wisdom sometimes. You have to give them hope, to give them something to believe in. You keep their spirit and determination alive by letting them know there is a better place, a greater goal. Some people call this hope, others call it belief."

There could be no more talk now. Blower and the other fish were all around. Gulpy heard them asking questions. Blower was asking. So was Angie. Yet it was tiny Harpie's voice that topped them. A shrill excited voice of a young goldfish who had sometimes joined them when the Wise One spoke.

"Did you see it? Did you see the Great Pond?" he shouted excitedly, above the others. The question brought abrupt silence. It was almost as if everybody's question had been asked by Harpie.

Gulpy was silent. He saw the Wise One look at him. He saw Harpie's belief, a strong belief in the Great Pond and freedom. He saw a younger generation, yet unborn, believing in the Great Pond and freedom.

Hadn't he, too, felt elated every time he heard about the Great Pond? Hadn't the mention of freedom brought him out of the despair he felt in the tank? Wasn't there hope in the knowledge that freedom and the Great Pond were there for those prepared to risk for it?He heard the Wise One's words echo, "some call it hope, others call it belief.." "Yes," Gulpy said finally, regretting the lie, but believing in its necessity. 'I was metres away from the Great Pond when I was caught. I saw the freedom, the plentiful food and the easy life in the Pond."

As he turned away be felt, somehow, that the mantle of wisdom was now his.