The Shimmery Shallows were all that I had ever known. The rippling water that surrounded my thin body when I ate, slept, and lived was my world. Day in and day out, I brushed up against boulders, I rushed into cold spots in the deep, and I swam with groups of my own kind. My home was not limitless- it was a cozy pond that I could cross within half of a day if I was feeling ambitious- but it was all that I would ever need. I loved it.

I liked to stay on the outskirts of the pond usually, where the water was warm, large fish didn’t bother me or my brethren, and I could bathe in the sun’s rays. It was here where my kind and I would rest on a large, flat boulder, which I had come to call the Sleeping Stone.

I lied there one warm, sunny day. In the pit of my stomach, I felt a subtle vibration. I didn’t think much of it. Sometimes, there would be slight agitations in the calm, still water. Whether they were ripples caused by a frog leaping into the pond, or small waves caused by a large fish swimming close by, the agitations were never anything to be concerned about. I felt another vibration; the Sleeping Stone shook a bit. And then, a wave ripped through the water, sending me flying off the rock. When I came to my senses, I saw dozens of my brethren swimming fast passed me, all in the same direction. As fast as I could, I turned around, and started working my tail as quickly as possible to follow behind them. I felt a huge force crash down on the water above me, dazing me again. I felt a soft cloth catch on my body, and slowly tug me upwards through the bubbling, churning water.

I was introduced to a feeling that I had never felt before, a feeling that I didn’t think I liked. I was no longer surrounded by shimmery water; instead the thing that was surrounding me was pure air. I gasped, searching for oxygen, but found none. I jumped this way and that inside my net-prison. My body felt deflated, and I couldn’t breathe.

Finally, to conserve energy and get a grasp on my situation, I stopped moving. I looked at the new environment. Staring at me was a young girl with giant brown eyes. “Mommy!” she squealed. “Mommy, I caught a minnow!”

I pleaded in my mind for her to put me back in my home.

“That’s great honey,” I heard another voice say.

“Can I keep it, mommy?”

“Of course you can, dear.”

The little girl squeaked with delight. Almost immediately after, as my head began to grow light, I heard her scream, “Froggy!” I felt me and the net dropping through the air as the little girl went to explore a new type of pond creature.

I landed on soft grass, still trapped in the net. I tried to breathe, but I still could not. A few feet away sat the Shimmery Shallows, all that I had ever known. They were calm and glassy on the surface. I gulped, and tried to get used to my new home. I knew that it would just be a temporary one- I could feel myself losing consciousness quickly- but I tried to take in all the sights and sounds that I could. The air was light- much lighter than the water had ever been on my body. The sunlight was warm and it was drying my skin rapidly. I beat my tail against the ground lightly one final time, and all that I had ever known gave away to blackness.