• sanvi | the gift from granpa fish

    Living alone and lonely in a small island in the distant Sea of the South, Sanvi always dreamt about the day he would travel through the endless blue and leave his horizon behind. He longed for that magnificent lands the stars so much bragged about.

    In his isle, Sanvi had everything he needed. The trees were generous, providing him the sweetest fruit and soothing shadow in the torrid summer days. The Sea adopted him as a beloved son, offering its own offspring, so Sanvi wouldn't starve. The fish never abandomned the coast...

    Still, it was not enough.

    One fine night, while fishing for neon fish under the luminous nocturne sky, Sanvi hooked the oldest fish in the Sea of the South. As soon as he saw the majestic fish unique radiance, our young fisherman was thrilled. He believed that if he ate that ancient creature, he would inherit the elder's wisdom and then he would find a way to travel through the horizon and leave his lonely isle.

    "What secrets will you give me if I eat you, Granpa-Fish?" Sanvi inquired, looking at his catch with joy.

    All the fish in the Southern Sea wept for their elder. Their cry even touched the snotty stars above. Desperate and tired, the elder neon fish had no other choice but to beg for his life, in a last atempt to touch his capturer's heart.

    "Have mercy of my old scales..." the elder fish said. "I am old and tired... My light is extinguishing and my meat is sour... Please, let me go."

    Sanvi frowned. He didn't know what to do. Secretly in his heart, he pitied the ancient fish.

    "I-I need your secrets, Granpa-Fish..." Sanvi muttered, nervously taking the sparkling fish with his trembling hands. "I w-want to get out of my isle... I just d-don't know how..."

    "Why would you want to go, son?" the wise fish asked. "Here, you have peace and freedom. You never starved or suffered the element's wrath. This is a clement place... Why do you want to leave?"

    Sanvi lowered his eyes. Suddenly, he was ashamed of his ambition. Since he remembered the isle and the Sea always took good care of him... Still, he wanted to leave...

    "I... I feel lonely..." Sanvi whispered sadly. "I'm sorry for wanting to eat you, Granpa-Fish..."

    Sad and without apetite, Sanvi sighed deeply and released the ancient neon fish in the water. The other fish rejoiced, glowing and sparkling, turning the complacent sea in a undulating night sky full of stars.

    Sanvi was turning his back on the glowing nocturne sea when he felt a solid object hitting his head. Surprised, he looked to the ground and saw a small bug-catching-net-like object.

    "What is this?" he asked.

    From within the water, the elder neon fish replied.

    "This is a magic fishing net!" the fish Gandpa said, "Use it in the nights when the stars are happy. Then, when the Sea is reflecting their light you will be able to catch, not fish, but their very dreams."

    "And what will I do with the stars' dreams that I catch?" Sanvi finally asked, completely baffled.

    "Put them close to your heart, so then you will be able to travel in stories they dream about!" the elder kindly replied before disappearing within the rippling waters.

    Alone in the shore but having millions of stars as company, Sanvi looked at the night celestial vault. He smiled. The stars were happy... They smiled back.