Just another day gone by

The fish was swimming around doing all sorts of fishy things. Suddenly, he came across an injured worm.

“What happened to you?”, asked the fish

“Well, I was told my role in life was to attract the likes of you so that the angler can meet customer requirements (his wife, I think) and so they cultivated and processed me. I think they call it a supply chain. But somehow, the process went wrong and, well, here I am.”

“Wow, you don't look too good. What can I do? “

“Oh, I wouldn't worry too much, it'll pass.”

“So, what is this supply chain thingy then?”

“You know, I don't actually know. It seems that I just appear at the right time in the right place. Almost like magic. Well, I was raised somewhere else and then transported at great distance to somewhere else. They put me in a box and shipped me somewhere else again. And the strange thing was, when the angler chose me for his step in the process, I recognised that I had only moved about 300 meters but it seems I had travelled several 1000km to get here. I mean, it was an interesting experience, I had a great time meeting others, saw strange places, you know, got around a bit. It was fun!”.

The wise duck had, by now, joined the conversation. “I know”, he quacked, “I see it all the time. There are lots of gigantic loud things moving on land. I suspect you were in one of those too. But I wonder if it can continue like this in the future? “

“Why, “ asked the fish and the worm

“Well”, replied the duck, “humans have this thing called oil and it seems to be running out and then they will have to come up with a new idea to send you worms half way around the world to process you. Oh, and everyone is saying it will get more expensive, whatever that means.”

“Why?” asked the fish and the worm, not really understanding what the duck was saying.

“Well, it could mean that they don't want your friends any more because, well, of this expensive thing. Your purpose in life will not be fulfilled” the Duck said.

“That's depressing”, replied the maggot.

“Hmm, and all those other people you met faraway, they won't have anything to do either” added the Duck, “so their purpose in life will not be fulfilled either!”

“Something has to be done about this” said the fish. “Why don't we meet tomorrow and explore any ideas?”

That night, the worm died of his injuries. When they buried him, they wrote on his tombstone
“Here lies a wealth of untapped inspiration, experience and hope and another lost opportunity. May we all open our eyes and learn from this”.