A Fish Story

There's a story to this series of pictures.

While sitting on the beach in Florida, I watched a man walk back and forth across the sand at the edge of the waves, casting a huge, Biblical-style net into the gulf waters. He'd pull the net in and check it for fish, then send it back out. Over and over he did this. Any small fish he caught, he put in a small, clear plastic tackle box that he carried with him.

One bird caught wind of the smell of fish and began to follow him. Up and down the beach this bird walked, like a puppy at a master's heals.

Soon other birds began to notice and they joined in.

Before long, the man had a flock following him. At first, they pecked around his net when he'd bring it in, but it didn't take much time before they discovered the tackle box.

One bird fluffed his feathers in an act of ownership and fiercely fought others when they came too close.

He could smell the fish. He could see the fish. They flopped right at the tip of his beak. But he could not get to them.

And then the fisherman took his nets and his fish, and he walked away.