Olivia was walking innocently along the road, which happened to be right next to the water. She was strolling along, licking her ice cream, when she heard the voice. It sounded human, but also, sort of fishy. The voice said, "Now what Gill? We made it to the ocean, but I'm guessing you never thought about how to actually get in the water?"
Well, I- I guess I didn't," said another voice, who Olivia supposed was Gill. Olivia looked around, trying to locate the source of the voices. It seemed to be coming from over the edge of the road. She looked over into the water, and gasped. There was a group of assorted tropical fish bobbing in water-filled plastic bags, all arguing. She counted them. There were seven.
The fish called Gill spoke again. "I'm sorry about this everyone. Now, let's try to figure out a way to get out of these bags." Olivia was shocked. The fish were talking! And she could hear them! As the fish continued to brainstorm, Olivia took a closer look at the fish.
Gill was a looked like one of the fish her father had. Olivia struggled to remember what he had said. But then she remembered! He was a Moorish Idol. Her dad had bought him from a fish shop, which had captured him from the ocean.
She then looked at the fish which she had heard first. He was one her favourite types of fish. A Royal gramma! He was a rather beautiful one too. She loved royal grammas because they were a bright purple and yellow, her favourite colours.
There was also a blowfish, which can blow up like a balloon and make its spines stick out, a pink starfish, a blue and white striped fish, a cleaner shrimp, and another of her favourites, a yellow tang, which was a very bright yellow.
All of a sudden, the starfish looked up and said, "Oh! A human is watching us! Do you think she can hear us?"
"Of course she can't, she's a human!" said the royal gramma matter-of-factly.
"Uh, yeah, actually, I can hear you," said Olivia.
Then everyone started yelling.
"Oh no! This is not good!" said the royal gramma.
"She can! Wow, I wonder why?" exclaimed the starfish.
"Oh my! What do you think Flo? Flo?" asked the blue and white fish to no one in particular.
"Oh, there I go again!" shouted the blowfish as he swelled up into a balloon.
"Bubbles! Where are my bubbles?" said the yellow tang.
"Problema!" yelled the cleaner shrimp in French.
But Gill did nothing. He just kept staring at Olivia.
"Um, I mean to be rude, but, WHY ARE YOU TALKING?" she asked.
"How else are we supposed to communicate?" replied Gill coolly.
"Well, I mean, how come I can hear you?" said Olivia, feeling a bit crazy talking to a fish.
"We don't know," he replied, "but since you're here, could you please get us out of these bags?"
Olivia untied them all, but as she brushed the royal gramma with her finger, she felt the most curious sensation. She felt like she was shrinking, and she couldn't breathe. Every breath was painful. She was suffocating, until she hit the water. It felt like the first breath she had ever taken. It was so delicious, but then she realised she wasn't breathing in air, but water! She looked around and saw the other fish just hovering there, gawking at her. They look much bigger in the water, she thought. Almost as big as her.
"What?" she asked. When she talked, she felt her lips. They were, different almost as if they had scales on them. As she tried to look at herself, but instead of feeling arms moving, she felt fins! And when she looked down, she had a tail! She had become a fish! But not just any fish, a royal gramma. But instead of being purple and yellow, she was aqua blue and bright green.
