Fish

[438 words] It happened off the coast of California several years ago. Fishing boats, many of them, would work the many miles of shoreline, going far out into the bay and gather in large catches of sardines to take them to the sardine canning factory at Monterey. In the area also were large numbers of pelicans. I’m talking about tens of thousands of them, that would lounge around the factory, eating and enjoying the life of leisure and prosperity. Now, normally, pelicans are good fishermen. They fly along the surface of the water and, with their large mouth; scoop up fish swimming near the top. But, over the years, these pelicans had grown lazy. With the extra fish that the fishing boats and factories would throw back into the bay, all these pelicans needed to do was just stand in the water and eat. Such a lifestyle continued for years…