My new fish. Twenty-four hour short story contest

Source

This my entry for @mctiller’s The 24 hour short story challenge

Tommy never imagined the series of unfortunate events that a small lie could cause. Until the day his grandmother brought him the best gift he could have wanted.

A week after his 11th birthday, his grandmother came to visit and surprised him with a plastic bag and a small fish inside of it.

Grateful for this, Tommy informed his granny that his birthday would be in a week. The distressed grandmother told him that she would return with the gift in a week. But Tommy was so delighted with the little fish that he begged his granny not to take it.

Tommy was a kid who loved having little fishes. He prided himself on having a large aquarium about 1.20 meters long that contained his 7 favorite fishes. The aquarium was adorned with rocks, seaweed and an air pump in the form of a seashell that constantly bubbled, opening and closing in time with the pumping of the air. Their multi-colored tents described a festival of fireworks when they crowded desperately to eat the flakes that fed them.

"If you promise not to tell any more lies, it will be yours at this moment. Remember that the truth will set you free." Said Granny

Without paying much attention to the condition and gawking at the little creature, Tommy made a promise in vain.

The days passed and his fish was the most beautiful of all he had, his friends came to meet at home to admire his aquarium and especially the new fish.

One morning he got up late to go to school and in his haste, he forgot to brush his teeth. The mother, as usual, asked Tommy

"Did you brush your teeth?"

Hurried, Tommy just said, "Yes, mom!" And went quickly to class.

In the afternoon, back in his room, he noticed that the little fish had become a little bigger. However, he did not pay much attention, since he thought it would be normal for it to grow up.

At night his mother called him to have dinner. This time she asked: "Did you wash your hands?"

And Tommy, very hungry, decided to lie again: "Of course, Mom"

When he returned to his room, he noticed something strange, the little fish was 4 times bigger than the last time he had seen it. But this was not the only strange thing, there were only 7 fish in his aquarium.

The next day, at school he lied again:

"Yesterday, I was sick and I could not do the homework."

Fortunately, the teacher believed his lie and there were no consequences.

So the days passed and the more lies the bigger the fish became. For the morning of his birthday, the fish already occupied more than half of his aquarium and of the remaining 6, there were only 3.

The fish flapped its fins and was anxious, circling the aquarium from side to side, chasing away the other fish while swimming. By increasing its volume, it caused the water to overflow from the fish tank.

"Relax!" Tommy yelled

His mother, worried, shouted at Tommy:

"Something wrong, honey?"

"Nothing mom, I'm watching a movie!", Lying again.

It was then that he saw his fish grow back so much that half of its tail jutted out of the fish tank.

Tommy hurriedly pulled out the big fish to keep it from crushing the others and carried it into his arms in the direction of the bathroom. The fish frantically moved its body and flapped its fins, causing him to lose his balance. In a sudden movement, its slippery body slipped from his hands and it fell with a thud.

"Something wrong, honey?" The mother asked again.

"Nothing mom!", Lying once more.

The fish increased its size again.

It was then that his sister saw the size the fish had acquired.

"But how?" She asked scared

"There's no time to explain, Anna, help me take it to the bathtub."

With the help of his sister, they dragged the big fish into the tub and they turned the water on.

The guests began to arrive and Tommy left the fish to her sister.

Between laughter and conversations with the guests, his granny approached him and asked:

"Can you show me the big fish tank that you have, I would like to see the little fish I gave you".

"Ehh ... Today I've been washing it and the fish are separated into small fish tanks, granny," Tommy lied again

Suddenly her sister gave a loud cry when she saw that the fish doubled in size.

Tommy looked to all the guests and informed them, that they should not be alarmed, simply his sister was rehearsing a play that she would present at the end of the day before everyone.

Again a scream of dread and this time Tommy did not say a word and went quickly to the bathroom.

The fish measured almost two meters and jutted out of the tub. Her sister in panic shouted at him

"That thing just grew!"

"Don't worry, let's take it to the pool and tomorrow we'll solve it," Tommy said.

They pulled the big fish on a wheelbarrow, covered with a sheet. But when they reached the edge of the pool their mother surprised them.

"Thomas! Can I know what you both are doing? The whole house is soaked! "

"It's not my fault mom, it's from the grann ..."

But without being able to finish his sentence, the fish again grew back, hitting him with its tail and causing both to fall into the pool.

Anna and her mother shouted at Tommy to swim to the shore as soon as possible, but the fish pushed him the deepest part.

The grandmother shouted from the distance to Tommy

"Remember what I told you!"

Tommy tired of kicking, closed his eyes and decided to scream at all lungs with all the strength that was left

"I lied! I've been lying all the time! "And started screaming all the things he had hidden

"I don't wash my hands after leaving the bathroom, I have not brushed my teeth for three days, I always forget to do my homework ..." he continued until he realized that the water had stopped moving.

When he opened his eyes, there was no danger, there were only little fishes playing with his toes.

"The truth will set us free," was the only phrase he said before being rescued by his father from the pool.

I guess Tommy will never tell lies anymore...

Thanks for passing by!

If you want to participate in this contest, go to:

https://steemit.com/twentyfourhourshortstory/@mctiller/writers-win-five-steem-the-november-13th-twenty-four-hour-short-story-contest-a-little-boy-gets-a-new-fish-for-his-aquarium-that

---

Keep spreading the Steemit love