The Fable of Peacock Flounder

Somewhere in the Caribbean Sea, there lived a small Peacock Flounder and a Sand Crab. As far back as they could remember they had always lived together and they were very good friends. The Sand Crab was very organised. He liked to wake up early and think of all the things he had to do that day. The Peacock Flounder was a bit more laid back. He enjoyed long naps and the Sand Crab always had to call him at least three times before he actually got up in the morning. But even though they were very different, they got along smoothly, shared their meals and were always together.

One day, the Peacock Flounder had an idea. He thought it would be very funny to give the Crab a scare. He had to come up with the perfect plan. He knew that, because the Sand Crab was, like himself, a master of camouflage, it would be hard to catch him by surprise. That night, when they both went to sleep, he thought and thought, until he finally found a way to scare his friend.

The next day, when they went out hunting, the Peacock Flounder subtly slipped a little stone under his fins and carried it along. As they moved, the stone rolled tightly between the sand and the fin and became rounder and shinier. It was a brownish colour when he found it and a bright orange by the end of the day. He managed to divert the Sand Crab’s attention away from the stone he was carrying with him all day long and, at last, that night, when the Crab was fast asleep, he suddenly flapped his fins and threw it some meters away from them. In the morning, the first thing the Sand Crab saw when he opened his eyes was a dazzling light in the sand at a short distance in front of him.

“Peacock!” – he cried – “Flounder! Get up, there’s something on the sand! Come on!”

“What? Oh, okay, okay...” – But before he even got up, the Crab thrust himself toward the little orange stone, just as the Flounder had hoped. Quickly, the Peacock Flounder jumped and hid on some rocks nearby. When his friend the Crab realised the light was only the sunbeams reflecting on the polished stone, he turned around, saying:

“Hey, Flounder, it’s nothing, it’s just a – Peacock? Flounder! Say, where’d you go? ... Hello?”

It had worked! The Crab couldn’t see him! Ha ha! Finally he would be able to scare him. Now he just had to wait patiently for the Crab to go near the rocks and then...!

“Come on out, it’s not funny!” – continued the Sand Crab. “We have many things to do today. Let’s go!”

The Peacock Flounder was enjoying the moment. With his eyes closed, he began to imagine what face the Sand Crab would make when he suddenly moved by him. He wouldn’t see it coming. If only he waited a little longer... Would it be best to jump or to start swimming? Or maybe he could simply shout “Boo!” Or maybe...

What the joker fish didn’t realise, however, was that his friend was actually moving in the opposite direction, slowly getting further and further away from him. The poor Crab was still calling his friend’s name, when, after a while, a school of butterflyfish swam by the Peacock Flounder in a rush.

“Woah! Where’s the fire?” – asked the Flounder.

“A stingray’s on her way!” – answered the coloured fish from the distance.

The Peacock Flounder sprang off the rocks and started to swim as fast as he could. At that same moment, the Sand Crab, some meters ahead, opened his mouth to shout “No! Don’t move!” but he couldn’t even finish the first syllable. The stingray had now been chasing after the school of butterflyfish for some time and was swimming at a high speed, ravaging everything in her path. The collision was horrible.

 

Next time you see a Sand Crab with a little orange stone by him, you can be sure he still remembers his Peacock Flounder friend with a smile.