Fiction: Group 3
The Whirlpool of Time
St. Mary's Canossian College, Lee, Lauren - 13, Fiction: Group 3
don’t remember how old I was when I met him. He was a beat up fish with damaged fins and
scars that were painful to look at; he reeked of some kind of chemical, and had bags under his
bloodshot eyes. He also looked as if he was about to pass out when I told him my name. I
thought he was a complete psychopath when he told me that he came from the future. The whole
encounter gave me an odd feeling of déjà vu.’ I told my friend as we darted left and right with the school of
other fish, swimming pointlessly through the murky green water.
‘Hey, Sylvester.’ my friend whispered to me, ‘You’re so slow!’ I gave him a sideways glance.
‘It’s true,’ he remarked.
‘Okay …. Okay …’ I chuckled, ‘You’re obnoxious!’
We were still chatting when we felt a strong current behind us, intense and imminent. The silhouette swam
slowly but methodically, eyes wide open with hunger as it bared its murderous knife-edged teeth. I could
tell from the beaming gaze of its eyes that the giant carp hadn’t eaten for days; it was starving, and we were
its next target.
I swam. I swam as fast as my fins would allow me. I couldn’t see far through the contaminated water, but I
realized that I was miles away from the others. I can’t possibly survive this chase without my friends. It’s a
life and death matter. Now here I was, paddling alone through unknown territories with a giant carp hot on
my tail. What an idiot! I closed my eyes as I flapped my fins rapidly, speeding through the water as fast as I
could.
I soon was exhausted, having said that I wasn’t really an athletic fish. All I was good at was eating and
sleeping. I slowed down, panting, when a sudden pain shot down my spine. I wailed in agony as black spots
rapidly engulfed my vision---the carp had shredded a chunk out of my tail!
I took the chance as soon as I caught sight of a cave, wriggling
into a small opening as I crashed onto a large
piece of stone, whimpering.
‘Who on earth is he?’
‘I haven’t the slightest idea; just get him out of here!’
‘The poor fish is injured!’ I heard voices before my eyelids fluttered open and whatever was left of my tail
started to throb. Two ostentatious prawns were floating over me with questioning looks plastered on their
faces, but they darted away frantically as I woke.
‘Where am I?’ I slowly asked.
‘You’re close to Dongguan, if you wanted to know the exact location. Which stream are you from? What’s
your name?’ the male prawn said.
Dongguan? I had no idea where it was but it couldn’t be that far away from my school of fish, could it?
‘My name is Sylvester. Could you tell me how to get back to Foshan? I have to go back before sunset, or all
of my friends would have left,’ I explained.
The prawn let out a forced chuckle, ‘Foshan is miles away, kid. And the sun has already set.’ He gestured
towards the mouth of the cave, where no light was present.
I let myself process the information. All my life I’d been told that if I lost my school I would be on my own,
and I would be the perfect prey for lurking predators. In short, I would…. die. And there was nothing I
could do about it anymore.
‘I shouldn’t have lost them, I shouldn’t...’ I muttered, forcing back the stinging tears threatening to form. I
thanked the prawns and swam out of the cave in a daze.
‘Hey kid.’ I heard the prawn’s voice behind me. I slowly turned around.
‘Are you separated from your friends?’ he asked.
I nodded.
‘Well… Life likes to play games, you know? Make you suffer and see how you deal with situations. You
don’t expect Life to just sit there watching us, do you? He’d be bored out of his mind. Things are bound to
happen, but that doesn’t mean you can’t change them,’ he said with a wink. I looked blankly at him,
completely flummoxed.
‘Do you think you can make a difference if you re-live the moment you lost your friends?’ he continued.
“I
