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For Children
The Singing Goldfish - a short story for children
By 1211kellie
18 August 2008
This is the result from staring at my fish tank for too long and pondering whether to clean it out or leave it for another week. Any comments good or bad much appreciated.

fish




In the corner of the kitchen sat a large round fish tank. It was the home of seven little goldfish. Gina, one of the goldfish, loved to sing. But her singing made the other fish unhappy because she was the worst singer they had ever heard. As soon as she started to sing they whizzed around the fish tank trying to escape from the dreadful noise. They begged her to stop, but she did not listen. She just sang louder and LOUDER! 

So one day, the other goldfish huddled together and tried to make a plan!

“We could open the lid and push her overboard,” said one fish.

“No, bad idea,” said the other fish all at the same time. 

“We could chase her round the fish tank until she was too dizzy to sing,” said another fish.

“No;  if she got dizzy, she might be sick and we would not want to swim about in that!” said the other fish.
 
“We could tell her to go and sit in the smelly boot. We wouldn’t hear her in there,” said another fish.

“No, it’s too dark in there,” said the other fish. 

By the end of the day the goldfish still hadn’t thought of a good plan to stop Gina singing. So with sad little hearts they settled down for the long night.

The next day, as the morning sun shone through the kitchen window, the goldfish suddenly realised it was very quiet. In fact it was too quiet. “Where’s Gina?” said one fish. 

Then they heard a noise. “Help!The goldfish swam around the fish tank to find out where the noise was coming from. It was coming from the tube that fed air into the fish tank. They looked on in amazement for there, stuck inside like a cork inside a bottle, was Gina. “Help me please! said Gina. 

The goldfish huddled together and this time they came up with a very good plan. “You’ll have to hold your breath in, flap your tail and wiggle,” said the other fish to Gina.  So that is what Gina did. Slowly she eased along the tube and with a flap of her tail out she popped.  She’d never been so relieved in all her life.
 
So as a thank you to the other fish for their help, Gina decided she would stop singing. The other fish were really pleased to hear this news and the fish tank became a quiet place to live in again. Apart from every Saturday night, that is, because after a little while the fish tank became just a little too quiet. So all the goldfish decided that Saturday night would be Karaoke night, and Gina was always the first one to get up and sing. The other fish didn’t mind now because they only had to listen to her singing once a week instead of every day. So in the end, everyone was happy.  

Reviews
Fascinating
Written by Bookwormandco. (39 comments posted) 18th August 2008
I never knew fish could talk. :) 
Good basis for a short story, maybe develop it a bit further by using some more adjectives e.g.  
'The goldfish swam around the fish tank to find out where the noise was coming from.' 
OR: 
The fish swam groggily through the greeny water to find out where the odd noise was coming from. 
 
Or perhaps you could tell it from the fishes point of view, experiment with using Gina's perspective. 'A Day in the Life of Gina, the Fabulous Singing Goldfish' or whatever. 
Good effort, I hope you'll write some more. 
Lauren 
P.S. Clean out the fish tank, they'll appreciate it.

Written by 1211kellie (177 comments posted) 18th August 2008
Thanks BW. Good comments, glad you liked it and yes I finally got round to cleaning them out :grin  
 
Kellie
Morality Tales!?
Written by Katanga (1537 comments posted) 18th August 2008
I am no fervent moralist, and I don't believe in pushing 'adult morals' down children's throats. 
 
However, this is wonderful - as with all of your other pieces that I've read, there is a gentle and unobtrusive / intrusive point being made about 'how to get on in society'. 
 
Monday night is pretty arid on GW - I have been trawling around the new works and offering half-hearted reviews. 
 
Your piece here is the best of all, and has woken me up refreshingly! 
 
You have quite a collection now - why not look for an illustrator with a view to jolly old publication? 
 
If I were a kid, I'd spend my pocket money on your book. 
 
As an adult, I'll pay double! 
 
Cheers! 
 
John X 'bubble-blowing . . . ' 
 

Written by mr_soul (126 comments posted) 18th August 2008
Ah, what a great imagination you have kellie, simply brilliant. As above, I really enjoyed this, a great story but as John said a suggestion towards co-operation in society. And again as John said, I'd love to see these in a book. 
I'm afraid I take after Gina in her singing abilities, you'll be glad you'll never hear me! ha! It doesn't stop me belting them out though at home! 
A nice story, well done

Written by Josie (2847 comments posted) 19th August 2008
I don't think "singing" is one of the deadly sins, but annoying others could be. Well done Kellie. You have surpassed us all again with your lovely children's stories. I do agree with John and Mark. I have said from the start that your stories will definitely be in print for certain. Is there no end to your imagination? ha ha
Kellie
Written by meadowcroft1964 (112 comments posted) 20th August 2008
If I was fortunate to be a child again I'd love to be able to learn how to read using your stories.To me this one as a taste of Aesop's Fables which were always my favourite

Written by mia_ms_kim (1057 comments posted) 20th August 2008
Very enjoyable and engaging from beginning to end. It could be my English, but as 'fish' is both singular and plural (it is, isn't it?), the repetition of 'fish' and 'goldfish' bothered me a little. It's hard to immediately picture if the writer is referring to one fish or many fish. If this poses a problem to young readers (it might not), I don't know how you would over come that??? Anyway, I loved the idea of the Karioke night! 
 
Mia :grin
Thank You
Written by 1211kellie (177 comments posted) 20th August 2008
So glad you have enjoyed this 'tail' I am currently trying to find a publisher but as we are all well aware it's a very slow process. Once again, many thanks for your positive and supportive comments. :)  
 
 
Kellie xx

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