Sousuke breathed in the fresh air as the wind tousled his short brown hair. It was windy again, but then, when wasn't it? He began to climb down the steep hill that led from his house to the ocean shore, clinging onto his favourite shiny toy boat that his father gave him. Jumping down from the last rocks a strange sight met his eyes.

"Huh?" A pink blob was bobbing just below the surface of the water. It shone in the distorted light. Curious, Sousuke slipped off his shoes and waded into the shallows, holding the hem of his shorts high. On closer inspection Sousuke found it was a goldfish trapped with its head in a jar.

"It's a goldfish!" he said, shaking the jar around. It looked stuck. Sousuke tried to pull the goldfish out, hitting the end of the jar, but the goldfish seemed to be well and truly jammed in there. "I can't get it out," he said, peering at the goldfish's face. It appeared to be almost human. Sousuke thought it was rather pretty. He began to move back to the shore when a dark blue lump of water seemed to lurch at him. Sousuke quickly rescued his shoes and the boat and jumped to safety on the rocks. The water lapped disappointedly at the rock's edge and moaned as it retreated to the ocean.

"That was weird," Sousuke said, putting his things down to have another look at the stuck fish. He selected a smaller rock from behind him and, with a grunt, smashed the glass with it. The jar cracked and the pieces fell away to reveal the red fish. "Ow…" Sousuke sucked his finger. There was a cut from the glass, but he brushed it off to look at the goldfish. Picking off the last pieces of glass Sousuke gazed at the fish and gasped, "It looks kind of dead."

Not wanting to have killed the fish he prodded its side, hoping the fish to give any sign of life. Some blood leaked out of the cut. Sousuke tapped the fish again, and suddenly, a small pink tongue came out and licked the blood away from his cut. Sousuke was overjoyed. "It's alive!" he grinned at the little goldfish in his hands.

The fish wriggled in the boy's hands. "No, don't!" he protested. It opened its mouth again and the pink tongue licked his fingers. Sousuke giggled, relieved that the fish wasn't trying to escape. But then it latched onto his cut thumb and began to suck. The fish nibbled a bit and its tongue tasted the blood that was coming from the cut. Sousuke laughed quietly. It tickled. The goldfish attacked his thumb more viciously and Sousuke yelped. Its red colour was turning a deeper shade as the blood from Sousuke's cut coursed through its little body. Tears came to the little boy's eyes as the goldfish was starting to hurt him. "S-stop!" he stammered.

Sousuke began to feel weak. He vaguely thought he heard his mother yell out to him but he couldn't concentrate on the sound. Sharp stabs of pain suddenly shot through his thumb and Sousuke yelped in fright as he saw that the little fish had grown sharp little teeth like needles, and was using them to gnaw on his finger. He waved his arm around to try and lose the vicious fish but it only resulted in it becoming a more angry red and having it clamp down on his thumb to prevent being thrown off. The pain brought him to tears which dropped onto the rock to mix with little droplets of blood.

A scream rang in his ears and he turned to see Lisa, his mother, with her hands clapped to the sides of her face and her mouth hanging open. She ran at the fish with a murderous look in her eye but it quickly turned to alarm when it detached from Sousuke and latched onto her forearm. The crimson goldfish gnawed on Lisa's arm with ferocity and it almost glowed from all the blood it consumed. Dropping to the ground Lisa lunged for Sousuke's shiny toy boat and started to bludgeon the small fish. It seemed to work and the goldfish fell to the ground with a dizzy look on its face. Breathing hard, Sousuke's mother cautiously nudged the fish into the water with the tip of the boat. It fell in with a splash, and she quickly scooped up Sousuke in her arms and ran back up the hill.

Lisa reached the top and gently set down a sobbing Sousuke. Tears cascaded down his face and he held his blood-and-bite-covered hand gingerly to his chest. Lisa hugged him tightly with tears of her own and whispered to him. "Sh, Sousuke. It's gonna be alright. Mummy's here. I'll protect you." She stroked his hair and they clung to each other, shaking at the thought of the carnivorous fish they just fought. "It'll be alright, I won't let it get to you."

Down in the sea the glowing crimson goldfish suddenly came to. The cold water cooled it down, and it slowly returned to its normal colour, its pointy teeth retreating into its gums. With a full stomach the fish began to swim away, looking for another jar to get stuck in, to start all over again.

PONYO IS NOT MINE

Thanks for reading. Hope you... uh, well, just... please don't hurt me. Review if you can =D

- WateryCordial