Pig Fish

He hated fish. He hated fish ever since that day in the third grade, when he had been bitten by a fish. It had been at the aquarium. He put his hand in one of the tanks that were designed for children . Children were encouraged to touch and feel the sand dollars and the little horseshoe crabs. It was educational. At one end of the tank however, there were two piranha, but no one told the children. So he was there with his mom, and when he put his hand in the tank, of course the fish saw an opportunity to remove some fingers. Luckily only three.

When he returned from the hospital and went back to school the following week, the kids in his class had heard of his loss. Instead of kindness however, they offered only merciless taunting. They called him “Captain Hook,” and “Claw Boy”. Children can be quite cruel. One called him “Fish Hand” Another “Piranha Breath.”

He was a forgiving child, though. When he grew up, he refused to eat fish. Of any kind. But he did enjoy occasionally dining on pigs’ knuckles.