Fish Rescue

Scene:  A very rainy Sunday afternoon --dark, gloomy, and wet. A young teenage boy and his mother arrive home by car and get out, hurrying in the rain. 

Mother:  My, that pond water sure is high.  I wonder if something is blocking the overflow pipe.

Boy:  I'll go check. 

As the boy walks past the pond to look at the overflow drain, the mother unlocks the front door.  

Boy (yelling):  Trapped fish! Trapped fish!

Mother (now in the house, looking for an umbrella): What do you mean? Is there a fish in the overflow pipe?

Boy:  No, the pipe is fine.  A fish is trapped in the pond!

Mother (grabbing umbrella and hurrying outside): What are you talking about?!

Boy:  Look, it's Daphne and she's stuck under a rock.

Both stand at edge of pond and look down.  A big yellow tail is sticking out from under a tiny opening under a rock.

Mother:  Are you sure she's stuck?  Maybe she's just hanging out there.

Boy:  No, she's stuck.  I can't get her to move. 

Mother:  Maybe she's dead and her body got stuck there.  

Boy:  No, her tail is moving back and forth. I'm going in to save her!

Mother:  Good heavens, you'll freeze to death!  Can't you just stick your hand down there and pull her out? 

Boy (putting hand in the hand and quickly pulling it out again):  It's too cold to even stick my hand down there!

Mother:  We have some long thick plastic gloves somewhere.  Let me see if I can find them.

Mother looks in various places in the house for the gloves while the boy stays with the fish.

Boy (calling to Mother):  I don't think I should pull her out; it might hurt her. 

Just as mother is getting exasperated at not finding the gloves and not knowing how to rescue the fish  she hears another cry from the boy.

Boy:  She's out!  She got out!  Daphne is saved!!

Mother runs out to see Daphne swimming all round the pool, appearing to be quite happy to have escaped the rock.

Mother:  What happened?  How did she get out?

Boy:  I don't know; she just suddenly was out and swimming around. 

Both stand together in the steady rain and watch the fish, who is quite fat and a bright yellow.

Mother:  We haven't seen her all winter and now she suddenly appears with all this drama?   

Silence.  Pause.

Mother:  Well, you might want to take a shower since you're all wet and cold.

As they leave the pond and enter the house the Boy rubs his wet, cold hands on his mother's neck.  

Boy:  That's okay.  I'm all clean now.  But you've got fish pee on you. 

Mother: Oh, great.