Mini and Moni ride BIG

One afternoon, Mini and Moni were resting on a rock
after having a lunch of some very tasty worms. This was the best part of the day for Mini and Moni.

Moni called this time her ‘thinking time’ when she liked to think about events or conversations that had captured her interest and which she thought were worthy of thinking over and discussing with Mini. She called them ‘Events or Conversations of Prominence’. 


And what did Mini do during this time? Well she liked to keep this time simple by not doing anything other than finding a comfortable spot and let the warm afternoon water lull her to sleep. 

One day Mini was just drowsing off to sleep when Moni asked her “Mini, do you know what the BIG is?”

“No” replied Mini.

“It’s a big fish” said Moni.

“Oh!” said Mini and added sleepily “Why am I not surprised” since there was nothing surprising about a big fish in the big ocean.

“It’s not what you think it is” said Moni getting irritated at Mini for not being interested in what she had to say.

“Then why don’t you tell me what it is” said Mini hoping to go back to sleep once Moni was done talking about the big fish.

“Well, I don’t know exactly what it is but I did hear a conversation among some of the other fishes that BIG had swallowed a whole spool of goldfishes.

This caught the interest of Mini since she was golden in color and even though she wasn’t a gold fish, she did not want to be mistaken for one if the BIG happened to see her.

Mini said “I have never heard of BIG. Let’s ask Dhrona”.

“Dhrona the octopus??” asked Moni. “Will he know about BIG??”.

“I think so” replied Mini. “He is always reading books. He is sure to have read about BIG somewhere”.

So Moni and Mini set out in search of Dhrona.

Now Dhrona was a very learned octopus. He had a big head to store all that he read so that never forgot anything he read. He had eight long arms called tentacles two of which he used to hold his book and the other six to catch his food and eat.

After searching all around, Mini and Moni were quite about to give up when they saw Dhrona resting against a coral and reading as always. 

Mini and Moni quickly swam up to him and waited for a while but Dhrona was busy reading his book.

“Ahem” Moni cleared her throat hoping that Dhrona would look up.

“Ahem Ahem” Mini cleared her throat hoping that Dhrona would look up.

They cleared their throats a couple of times until Moni worried that they might get a sore throat. So she decided she had to do something else to catch Dhrona’s attention. So, what did she do?
She swam right over the back of the octopus and down his face so that she was right in front of the book. Dhrona was surprised to see her. 

“What do you want?” he asked.

“Sir” said Moni respectfully “we have a question and we were hoping you might be able to answer it”.

“What is it” asked Dhrona.

“Well, we were wondering if you have heard about a fish called BIG and can tell us something about him”.

“Yes, I have. It’s not a fish though it does look very much like a fish” said Dhrona.

“If it’s not a fish then what is it” asked Mini.  
        

“It’s a whale and it’s bigger than anything I have seen in my life” said Dhrona.
         

“Oh, how big is it??” asked Mini and Moni awestruck.

“You have to see it to believe it” said Dhrona and went back to reading his book.

Mini and Moni set out to see BIG.
They asked the fishes they saw on their way if anyone had seen BIG. Most swam away thinking they were crazy but some stopped to tell them where they might find BIG and some even narrated how and when they saw BIG.

Thanking each fish that helped them, Mini and Moni swam deeper and deeper into the ocean stopping only to eat or for a quick nap. They swam for one whole week before they met a tortoise swimming away in a hurry.

“Why are you swimming in such a hurry” asked Moni.

“BIG is here. You know how he has a habit of jumping high in the air and diving back into the water. Since he is so huge, he creates such a disturbance in the water, I get quite nauseous” complained the tortoise.

“BIG is here???” asked Mini and Moni.
They could scarcely believe their ears.

“Yes, he is. You would swim away too if you know what’s good for you” said the tortoise and swam away.

Mini and Moni swam ahead excited. Then they finally saw BIG. He was black in color. And so very long!!! Mini and Moni had no doubt in their minds that this was BIG for they had never seen anything like him ever before.

 Like the tortoise warned, he would suddenly jump up high in the air and then dive down creating long and deep ripples in the water.

“We have to ride him” said Moni.

“W..h..a..t”? Gasped Mini.

“I said we have to ride him” replied Moni without taking her eyes off from BIG.

“Are you crazy? How can we do that” asked Mini.

“We will creep slowly over his back and sit down. He is so big and we are so small, he will not notice us” said Moni.

“No way” said Mini “I am not coming”.

“Scaredy waredy” teased Moni.

“Remember the last time you said this, we both almost lost our lives” warned Mini.[Click to read the story]

“I know. I am sorry. But this time, I am sure we will be safe. Please let’s do this.

Please….Please” begged Moni until Mini could no longer say no.

They both swam towards BIG, Moni leading the way and Mini following close behind. When they reached BIG’s tail, they slowly crept up and settled down over his back. As Moni had predicted, BIG was so big that he hardly felt anything moving over him. Mini and Moni waited with bated breath for him to leap into the air. And in a short while, he did. 

Up in the air he jumped Mini and Moni clinging on to him. They had never been so high in the air and they had never seen the sea from above like this. It looked so beautiful. And so did the sky and the birds and the clouds. 




And then BIG dived down straight into the water. Mini and Moni were thrown far away as he landed with a really big splash. They fell into the water spluttering and laughing in excitement.

After all the excitement had died down, they made their way back to their home in the ocean bed. They narrated their experience to all who cared to listen. Of those who listened, some believed them and were amazed. Others refused to believe them and thought they had cooked up a story.

Mini and Moni did not mind at all for they could scarcely believe themselves that they had done what no other fish in the world had done. They had a ride on the BIG.


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