Jerold the fish swam to school on Monday morning like all other days of the school week. However, today he was very excited because his entire school was going on a field trip to explore the sea outside of their community. It has been the first time that he has been on a field trip in two years, so today is extra special for him. In Kindergarten Jerold’s school went to the bottom of the sea floor to visit the coral reefs, and he absolutely loved it because it was so fascinating to see all the different colors and shapes of each reef. Unfortunately, Jerold had to miss his first grade field trip because his family was on vacation, and in second grade he missed going to the zoo because he had the flu.

Jerold was only a block from school or so, and he realized that he made a terrible mistake: He forgot his lunch at home! At first he did not know what to do, he started spinning in circles, and yelling at the top of his lungs. He did this for almost ten minutes, then out of nowhere Jerold saw a weird-shaped object that he had never seen before. So that made him even more freaked out, and he started spinning in circles even faster. Then he came to a screeching halt– he felt something around him. He looked up and saw a puffer fish was holding him, and he screamed. After a few minutes the puffer fish was able to calm him down and was able to get him to tell her what was going on. Jerold was out of breath trying to tell her that he forgot his lunch and his field trip was today, he was going to be late, and the list went on.

Eventually the puffer fish came up with an idea. She would give Jerold a ride to school and then fish for some food for him so he would have a lunch to take. Jerold agreed with the idea, but he said they had to act quickly because the school was leaving in thirty minutes with or without him. Jerold got onto the puffer fish’s fin and they were off to school, and they made it just in time. Then he had to beg the teachers to hold off for a few minutes while his friend retrieved his lunch. Luckily they agreed, and he received a lunch just like the puffer fish had promised.

This time, Jerold was able to attend the field trip and absolutely loved being able to explore the sea outside of their community. If it wasn’t for the kind fish out there in the sea to lend a helping hand to Jerold, he would have missed his field trip three years in a row.