Thumbelina: The fish and Freyja

Continued from
section n: Vladimir the wanker

Thumbelina
section n + 1: The fish and Freyja

Trapped on a floating lily pad and not knowing how to swim, Thumbelina could only sit and think about her fate. She could not imagine anything worse than being married to Vladimir.

She had to get away, but how?

“Think Thumbelina, think,” she told herself, just like what the characters in stories usually do when they get into trouble. No good ideas came to her. It appears that she really had to think, instead of just telling herself to “think Thumbelina, think.”

Thumbelina carefully moved to the edge of the lily pad, careful not to overturn the leaf. She could easily see through the clear stream water, and in it were a few fishes darting about, some interestingly smooth stones on the stream bed, and even an aquatic spider.


A fish swam close to her, and she called out to it, “excuse me, my dear fish, but can you help me?” She felt silly addressing it as ‘my dear fish’, but then she did not know if it was a ‘sir’ or a ‘madam’.
The fish looked around, and did not see anybody that could possibly have called out to it.
“Here, up here on the lily pad,” Thumbelina said.
The fish looked up, and finally saw Thumbelina. “What a small person you are! How may I help you?”

Thumbelina told the fish her story, how she was kidnapped by the mother frog, then about Vladimir who wanted to marry her and subsequently trapped her on this lily pad.

“That is certainly not the right thing to do,” the fish exclaimed about Vladimir. “Wait, I’ll get a few of my friends and we’ll see what we can do to help you.”

As the fish swam away between plants and rocks, Thumbelina watched with a sight of relief. At least she will get help; even though it was not certain if she will completely escape Vladimir the frog.

After a while being alone, Thumbelina began to have second thoughts.
What if the fish forgot her location?
What if the fish got distracted by some games its friends were playing?
What if Vladimir returned before the fish did?
What if the fish got eaten by a kingfisher?

Many ‘what if’ questions filled her mind, and made her very nervous.


Finally, the fish returned with a school of friends. They swam excitedly around Thumbelina’s lily pad, all of them talking at once, pointing at the direction which Vladimir came from, speculating if ‘the frog they saw at the market’ was Vladimir’s mother, discussing the morality of Vladimir’s kidnapping of Thumbelina, talking about why Vladimir could not get a bride for so long, asking why Thumbelina was so small compared to other humans. In short, the fish gossiped.

Had one of the fish not reminded them that they were actually here to help Thumbelina out of her fix, they would have surely continued talking till Vladimir came back. Spurred on, they came up with many ideas to help Thumbelina get away from Vladimir. Most of the ideas were impossible, but like most brainstorming sessions, a few good ones did turn up.

Finally, they thought it would be best to nibble at the stalk of the lily pad till it broke free, and ask Freyja the butterfly to tow the lily pad to safety. They sent two of the younger ones to get Freyja while the rest stayed and took turns nibbling at the stalk.

The stalk was nearly done when Freyja arrived, her intense blue wings shimmering brilliantly in the sunlight as they flapped up and down. She landed neatly on a neighbouring lily pad, and a few of the young fishes swirled around her telling her about a new game they had invented.


***

If anyone is inclined, do look up the meanings of the supporting cast's names.

As before, feedback of all sorts very, very much appreciated. Thank you in advance.


Narration