The Big Goldfish

Both men dropped their fishing rods, and backed away toward the far side of the bridge. The younger man was four steps closer to Astra than the older man was. Astra placed a hand on the top of the bridge's wall that was closest to her, and blinked. She did not give a reassuring gesture, perhaps because even something as harmless as a wave of the hand might be seen as threatening.

The old man stopped, and closed his eyes. He took slow and shallow breaths. Then he declared, "I do not know what she is, but she is uncanny. She is giving me a vision."

The young man looked forward at Astra, who stayed still. "A vision?"

"Like she has come to give us a message. I saw a vision that you and I had both caught large golden fish."

The young man said, "What do you think it means?"

Now, Astra had not intended the golden fish to have any special meaning. She merely wanted to ease their fear by giving them a vision of what she thought of as a successful catch. The only live fish she had ever seen were the large, shiny, golden pet fish in a large pond on the palace grounds, and she thought that most fish looked like that. The fisherman, used to plainer fish such as bass, seized on that and gave the vision a meaning that Astra had not intended.

The older man replied,

1. "I am not sure. But if the white lady is a messenger of some sort, there is a hermit that may be able to tell me what this means."
2. "The two golden fish mean that there is a treasure hoard near the bridge."
3. "A golden dragon will pass by here soon, and challenge the dragon in the mountains."
4. The old man made another guess that was far off the mark.

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