A long time ago, about last Thursday…
There was an Anglerfish, sitting on the bottom of the ocean floor, way way wwaaayyyyyy down in the deep.
Most of the sea creatures down that deep avoided the Anglerfish as they were very strange looking, with that weird lamp thing coming out of their head and that bumpy lumpy face. The story was that when two Anglerfish mated, they turned into jelly and absorbed one another. If that wasn’t weird enough, the other sea creatures were pretty sure that if the Anglerfish wanted to, they could eat them with no trouble at all. They stayed as faaar away from that fish as they could.
One day, however, a very young and very timid squid glided by in the dark, unaware of the Anglerfish nearby. SWISH! Gliiiidddee! SWISH! Gliiiiiiide went the timid squid.
Suddenly, the squid saw the Anglerfish’s lamp and jolted stiff!
“YIPES!” squeaked Young Squid.
“Well hallooo…” said Anglerfish, somewhat ominously.
“Er… um.. Uhh…” was all that Young Squid could manage to say.
“Oh friend,” responded Anglerfish in warm, comforting tones. “Don’t worry… I’ve just eaten and won’t be eating again anytime soon.”
Young Squid thought he saw something move in the distance, “ACK!” He yelled.
Anglerfish slowly turned its head, lamp illuminating an empty sea shelf. “Don’t worry, young friend. It’s just a snail.”
“Uuuuhhh uh uh uh… ok…” quivered Young Squid. Young Squid GLIDE swisssshhhh GLIDE swwiiissshhhedd his way a little closer to Anglerfish, feeling a bit more trustful.
“OH NNNOOO!!” yelled Young Squid, seeing the water move in an unexpected way.
Once again, Anglerfish slowly moved its head toward the sound, lighting up the area, showing nothing but seaweed swaying in the water. “You’re okay,’” intoned Anglerfish to the frightened squid.
“You spend quite a lot of time being scared, young friend,” noted Anglerfish. “It must be exhausting!”
“It really is,” said Young Squid sadly.
“But why are you so afraid?” asked Anglerfish, baffled.
“Well,” posited Young Squid, ‘I am told that I am quite tasty, and the sea is full of creatures who would like to eat me!”
“Ahhh, I see…” replied Anglerfish. “What you say is true. I won’t lie to you. I have eaten quite a few squid in my time.”
Young Squid quickly zipped several feet away.
“I will remind you, though,” Anglerfish continued, “I won’t be eating again for some time.”
Young Squid relaxed a little. But just a little.
“You have an advantage, Anglerfish! You can just turn your head and see exactly what’s there! And… you’re HUGE!”
“MMm, not so huge to a shark,” said Anglerfish. “They think I’m tasty too.”
“Aren’t you afraid that a shark will come and eat you?” asked Young Squid, swish-pacing back and forth.
“Afraid? No. Not really,” responded Anglerfish. “I mean, it could certainly happen, and one day it might just. But until then, I have things to do, and things to eat, things to see and a life to enjoy. I don’t want to miss any of it.”
Young Squid’s body relaxed just a little bit, and he moved closer to Anglerfish once again.
“Tell you what,” encouraged Anglerfish, “The next time you hear or feel something and get scared, come closer to me instead. See what happens.”
Young Squid was very tired of being afraid all of the time, so he determined to try it.
Sure enough, after some time, Young Squid thought he saw something. His little body started to jump, but instead of panicking, he swished himself closer to Anglerfish and asked them to shine their light.
“A school of small fish. You’re ok.”
And again.
“A rock that got pushed by the water.”
And again…
“Just another snail. No threat to you.”
After several of these incidents, Anglerfish asked Young Squid, “What have you learned, my many-tentacled friend?
“Well,” reflected Young Squid, “I’m actually having a pretty good day. And when something does get my attention, I’m calm enough to figure out what it is and whether or not I have a reason to be afraid.”
“Very good to hear,” said Anglerfish, content.
After some time, both Anglerfish and Young Squid fell asleep.
Young Squid woke to the sensation of the water moving, along with a low growling sound. It was Anglerfish’s stomach! Anglerfish was hungry!!
Young Squid zipped away to safety, forever changed by his time with the formerly terrifying Anglerfish.
And so it was, a long time ago, about last Thursday.