The little black fish - part 1

It was the longest night of winter. At the bottom of the sea an old fish gathered together 12,000 of her children and grandchildren and began to tell them this story:

Once upon a time a little black fish lived with her mother in a small pond on the side of a mountain. Their home was behind a black, moss-covered rock, under which they both slept at night. The little fish longed to see the moonlight in their home just once. From morning till evening, the mother and child swam after each other. Sometimes they joined other fish and rapidly darted in and out of small crevices. The little fish was an only child, for of the 10,000 eggs which the mother had laid, only she had survived.

For several days the little fish had been deep in thought and had talked very little. She swam slowly behind her mother around the pond and did not play with the other fish. Her mother thought her child was sick and would soon be well. In fact, the black fish's sickness was really something else!

Early one morning before the sun had risen, the little fish woke her mother and said

"Mother, I want to talk to you."

Half-asleep, the mother responded

"Child, this isn't the time to talk. Save your words for later. Go swimming?"

"No, Mother! I can't go swimming anymore. I must leave here."

"Do you really have to leave?"

"Yes, Mother, I must go."

"Just a minute! Where do you want to go at this hour of the morning?"

"I want to go see where the stream ends. You know, Mother, I've been wondering where the end of the stream is ... I haven't been able to think about anything else. I didn't sleep a wink all night. At last, I decided to go and find where the stream ends. I want to know what's happening in other places."