I publish this very first short story of mine because of encouraging of my best Friend. She knows and I know... so... you enjoy if you will.

The Whale

A young Fisherman was living in the shore for such a long time with his old mother . A village near the ocean, far a way from the crowd. The mother loved her son and her only wish was his happiness; only if she could be able to see him everyday. She didn’t want to be worried about him and that had made the Fisherman to live in that small village in any condition. He was a very talented Fisherman, taking the nets in the water and catch the fish. Some would say:” He is just good luck” some others would say: “He knows were the good fade is” and others would say:” he got his talent from his dad” but he would say:” I just know what Im doing.”

He trusted his own power and knew what he wanted could be done which was almost true, but he only had a dream in his heart which he knew it was too big to be able to catch it so easily. Everyday he would sit on the sands by the ocean, watching the sunset , through small rocks in to the water. He was thinking of a big job. He knew he could do it. The dream of the Biggest Fish of the ocean wouldn’t let him rest. “I’ll catch it where ever it is, and why not?I’ll go there full of energy and catch a fish that no one ever seen before.” He thought.

And one day, when the Sun got to the point were it was the most extreme Red color on the horizon, he looked at it and said: “I’ll catch you.” And in the morning he head the ocean. He wanted to catch his dream just today. While pulling the boat in to the water, he was thinking: “I would keep it. Of course when someone is willing to catch the biggest fish of the ocean, should have thought about a place to keep it .I won’t eat it. The biggest catch in the life is not eatable but it’s watchable! And it will be big enough to not fit in any fish tank ; I would have to build a pool; our pool wont be big enough. I want everyone to come and watch it and my fish should have comfort.”

He was in love. His dream fish was in his mind and finally took him to the ocean.

He wasn’t thinking of staying close to the shore. He would go to the distance to find his fish in the middle of the ocean. Under the sun shine , let the boat take him to where ever it wants. Where was the place he was going? He didn’t know. He just knew he would do something big this time.

At the time in which there was a minuet that he was going to catch his fish, the wind stopped and the boat stood still in the middle of the ocean. He opened his eyes. Where was he? It was just one of a beautiful day. He got up and through his hook in to the water. His fish wouldn’t be caught by the net, he wanted it to be hooked. He didn’t  want to catch it with others. The nest wouldn’t allow him to choose but the hook would make a choice. You would wait and your fish would choose your hook. Its not clear that in such a condition, whose choice was it to make? Was it the Fisherman, who was only waiting for his fish to get to him? Or it was the Fish, which didn’t know who the hunter is and only would choose  the hook?

The hook was moving and the Fisherman was laying under the sunshine, thinking of his fish, of the pool and of the trilling body of the fish in the water…” even our house wouldn’t be good enough. Ill build another house with a big pool to just watch it everyday of my life.”… his eyes were closed, and couldn’t  see the water was moving; couldn’t see the waves; he didn’t even hear Its noise. Only the hook moved and he opened his eyes. The fish was hooked. That was it!... but … was it? This wasn’t what he thought of … it was much bigger that his dream. That wasn’t his dream fish; but it was The Whale of the ocean which was siding next to his small boat. Its injured mouth was bigger than not being able to skip from his fish hook, but It’s tired eyes would tell that It was about to hit the shore.” Set it free.” There was something within him , warning :”let it go.” But the Fisherman was looking at his Fish and could not believe what he saw. Did the Whale want the bait? Or it wanted the hook? It could kill the fisherman in one move. But why did It want to crawl in to the shadow of the small boat and attached to the Fisherman’s hook?

There was no time. he couldn’t let it go:” I want it no matter what. I did not expect this. Its bigger than my dream… much bigger. But now its mine.”

He spent hours alone with his dream:” Where were you all this time that all of a sudden  did you catch the hook? You are bigger than my dream. I cant believe I did this but I was sure about today. I came to catch you but you tell me what happened to you? Your eyes would tell that you are tired. Tired of what?”

He move the boat and pulled The Whale which was moving with the boat. There was a long way and the land wasn’t  nearby yet. He had secrets to share with the dream of his life. The dreams which were on the clouds, the memories of his childhood, the father’s death, his old mom and his loneliness…

The Whale’s tired eyes were looking at him and the sparkle in Its eyes shook his heart:” What if youre the one I was looking for?”

The Fisherman could not get back home. Nothing in the world would be better than finding your dream. The Whale was his, even though floating in the water but It’s beauty was because of it. If it wasn’t belong to the water it couldn’t be that valuable.

The Fisherman was singing the song of “The Goddess of Love” in the middle of the night and The Whale would give Its heart to the song while floating next to his boat. The Whale was never thinking of Its painful mouth, nor thinking of the thirst nor hunger. Why would it need food when Friend was there? It was thinking: “he is not a whale! He belongs to the dry land and I belong to the water. It seems I’m looking for something in him which is not real. What if its not?...No….it is real…He is what I needed, I only wish he would show up sooner than this…if I was younger, would I wanted to catch his hook?...”

When The Whale was thinking of the shore, It knew that this road might end soon, but didn’t want to think of the end. It was surrounding to the Fisherman’s will to think instead… wasn’t he the hunter after all? He could have find a way.

The morning was about to begin. They wouldn’t  wait for the land to come but it was approaching. This dream at one point should have hit the reality and the reality wasn’t  what they were floating in.

The Fisherman was thinking about the same thing. He didn’t know where to take his dream. He took his eyes from the distance shore which was approaching, and looked at his tired dream: “what do I do now?”. How many times He was singing for the Whale to open Its heart like the ocean? And now that the land was approaching, he realized what a big request he had had from the Whale. He expected the Whale to make Its heart as big as the ocean and take the risk; but He , himself didn’t know where to fit his dream in. approaching the reality of the land, was the point of combining the reality and the dream. He should have thought of something before getting to the land...

“Its mine. It has been years I have thought about It; even though It’s bigger than what I ever wished for, but still Its mine. I wont give It up even over God...

What are you talking about? The Whale belongs to the ocean. It’ll die without the water...

.Ill keep It around the water. Ill wet its skin everyday....

You can’t do this to yourself neither to the Whale. Youll stick in to It and cant get rid of It. Taking care of such a Whale, needs care a hundred times more than the other fish...

I have enough energy....

You don’t; you can’t; even now you are shaking of a doubt and fear. you should understand that you can’t take It with you to the landscape....

I’m not afraid....

You are! The Whale belongs to the water, and by taking It to the landscape you’ll kill It.”

      The conversation in his head was still going on when his feared eyes turned on the Whale…It was looking back at him in silence. The Whale had seen the fear inside him. The Fisherman couldn’t hide it. The Whale’s heart was broken; but the decision was His. It was hoping that the Friend wouldnt make any decision without the Whale, but the Whale knew how close such a decision was to be done…

The Friend’s heart was shaken,…not of love…but of fear

The rush of the questions without any answer , was endless in the Fisherman’s mind. Specially while in each moment , they were getting closer to the land…each minuet was taking them one minuet closer to the reality…

It was the goodbye time…to what?...to the dream? To the lifetime wish?...or to reality? To an old mother? How could he be in the ocean and be with the mother? If you get on the boat, you are gone...to whom should have he say goodbye ? saying goodbye from each side was shutting a door … the door to the Mother, or ...The Whale…? His goodbye to The Whale could  take him home; to safety with no fear …but saying good bye to home, was taking the Mother away and would attach the Fisherman’s heart to the ocean …How good it could be if there was always forever time to decide…but every road will end someday…

The Fisherman set the hook free, and let the Whale go…

The Whale was free now…and made a distance with the boat…It was free and so was the Friend …looked at the Friend’s face…there was pain in there but He was the one who decided...of loosing an strange dream?. Maybe…

Each one of them went their own way. The Fisherman to the safety of home, and The Whale to the ocean with the injured in common The Whale’s was on the lips, and the Fisherman’s in his heart…

     No one ever saw the Fisherman this broken before. His heart was gone with The Whale to the ocean but he  Himself had stayed behind …

     Every evening he would sit on the sands, gazing at the Red spot in the horizon, remembering his last dream which was raising in that point. The was not enough courage inside him anymore.  While he was looking at that live dream in the distance , he didn’t dare to wish one more time.

 And the One in the distance which was in the bloody color of the horizon was about the same color of the Fisherman’s dream, wasn’t a dream. It was The Whale. A reality which was in the horizon and Its hunter, was becoming a dream…

Elham---