Far beneath the sea lived a fish named Max. His home was so deep that hardly any light could reach it. Everything around Max was dark and gloomy. The only thing that wasn’t gloomy was Max himself! He shone like the sun, and his smile shone even brighter. But Max had never seen the sun. He had never seen the sky or felt the wind on his face.
“What’s it like up there?” Max asked his friend, the crab.
The crab sat down on a rock.
“It’s very warm and bright,” he said. “And it’s dangerous because there are humans up there. They’re all very mean. They catch fish and crabs and eat them.”
The other sea creatures joined in.
“It’s true,” said the jellyfish. “Humans are not kind.”
“I once got caught in a net,” said the swordfish, horrified. “I had to cut myself free.”
“That sounds like an amazing place,” said Max. “I want to see the beautiful sun and the waves. I even want to see some humans. They can’t all be bad.”
The other animals shook their heads and stared at Max.
“It’s far too dangerous to swim up to the surface,” said the crab.
But Max kept thinking about the sunshine, the waves, and the breeze, and he just couldn’t stay down in the deep any longer.
So he swam up, up, UP!
The water started to feel lighter. Everything slowly began to seem less gloomy. And then it became MUCH less gloomy.
Finally, Max broke through the surface and felt the cool breeze on his scales. A big smile spread across his face.
His colorful scales sparkled in the sunlight, and his smile was so bright that even a family fishing in a boat couldn’t help but notice him.
“What a beautiful fish!” said the little girl. “He’s amazing!”
“Let’s catch him,” said her brother, and their dad agreed.
The boy cast his line into the water. It drifted toward Max.
Max stared at the fishing line. He had never seen anything like it before and didn’t know what it was. He swam a little closer.
“Swim away!” the girl shouted to Max. “Stay free!”
Max swam away from the fishing line. The boy and his dad sighed, but the girl smiled.
When Max was safe, he turned around and smiled at the girl. He knew he had made a human friend.
Then he turned and dove back down, down to his deep-sea home.
Everything felt different now that he had been to the surface.
His friends were waiting for him. They cheered and danced when they saw he had made it back safely.
“How did you escape?” asked the crab.
“It was thanks to a human girl,” said Max. “Not all humans want to catch fish. Some just want to be friends!”
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