“Freddy Fish” — FWG Flash Fiction for 9/27/2025

Addiction comes in many forms.

The prompt is:

https://pixabay.com/photos/waters-nature-lake-flow-water-3095682

FREDDY FISH

The fisherman doesn’t bother me where I hang out on my tiny island in the pond. I croak at him as he floats by, playing tag with my friends the perch, sunnies, and occasional trout. It’s a strange game. He throws them food on the end of a string. If they can nibble the bait off the hook without him noticing, they get a free snack. When they get greedy, though, he hooks them through the lip and they play tug-o-war for a while. If he wins the battle, they get a glimpse of the Upper World before he lets them go back to the Lower World. Some fish folk play every day.

One of them, a young lake trout in particular, enjoyed the game so much the fisherman gave him an Upper World name. “Freddy.”

“Hello again, Freddy Fish,” I heard him say one day. “This is getting to be a habit. I think you just want to get a look around at my world.”

Fisherman held Freddy high above his head, and Freddy squirmed in delight.

“Take a good look, Freddy,” Fisherman said, watching him appraisingly. His lips curled into a small smile before he unhooked Freddy and let him slip back into the Lower World. “See you again soon, I hope.”

 Over the rest of the summer, Freddy got long and fat on the nightcrawlers that Fisherman fed him. As he grew, their tug-o-war battles became longer and more fun.

Freddy ignored the warnings of his school and kept playing—and growing—until one day after an exhausting fight, Fisherman scooped him out with a net and laid him against a stick with marks on it. With a nod and a smile, he dropped Freddy into a bucket and took him home.

We never saw Freddy again.

THE END