Lord Martin Lives!

I am a fish, Lord Martin is my name. I have been selected by God himself to rule over this kingdom, for those who doubt me, hear my story; for those who are already believers, watch my photos. I believe its important for you to know who speaks right now. I am the Swanfish, Lord Martin, Grand Protector of Tepaitank. I have not always been so grand, or as fat as you see me today. Nor was I as aware of who I was and what my purpose was.

When I was just a small-fry I had no idea of what I would become, I was one of 300 brothers and sisters, born to two Swanfish, although they both died soon after I joined Mainetanque. I have few memories of those early days in Subtank, just a vague blur of white and hunger, much hunger. By the time I was a fry-long (0.5 cm) half of my brothers had died and by the time I measured two-fry I had just 80 fellow siblings. I admit, I ate a few of them, but who doesn't when they're that age?

After a few weeks, due to my healthy diet of flakes, algae and small-fry, I was already the biggest baby in the tank measuring a whopping 5 fry! A few days after reaching this milestone, we were all free to leave the confines of our small world and into the larger Mainetanque. Here I watched both of my parents die.

Firstly my mother, who was very weak from birthing 300 eggs was nibbled by other, bigger fish until she couldn't swim on. My father, heart-broken just went off his food. It's strange, I saw they were sick, but within hours of them having stopped swimming, God had already taken them away.

By the time I had finished my schoaling and become a staggering 10 fry-long, it was time for me to move onto University. It was all quite simple really, I went to sleep one day, and then the next day I awoke in different surroundings. I was one of hundreds of fellow Swanfish, in a whole world of other fish. Next door there lived some gigantic, I mean massive fish. They must've been at least 30 or even 40 fry in length; Gauldfish I think they're called. The other side was home to some Anjelfish whilst below, the Siemese Fayting Fish were meditating, readying themselves for another bout. I could also see many Gods in there. The long-term fish told me the place is called Fishop. I had never seen anything like it before, I learnt so much in those few weeks, it really opened my eyes to a whole different world. I don't think I had really lived before I went, oh and it was the first time, I you know, met a She-fish who wasn't my sister... And well, one fish plus one fish equals three-hundred if you know what I mean ;-)

All was great for me, I was part of the Bowling Team, we were all great friends but would meet each day at the corner of the tank to test our strength in various events. I was one of the best wrestlers, although me mate Dave was an incredible athlete, the best all-rounder, he was fantastic. I could have lived there forever watching him bend over, heaving stones and going red with exertion.

Suddenly my world was turned upside down, spun around and shaken down. Literally!

It all started one evening when a black haired Goddess walked in and poked her finger towards our world. As always we swam over to see what She wanted, and maybe a little food-reward. I don't know what we did wrong, but within hours she had punished us with a huge earthquake, a typhoon and tsunami bigger than I have ever witnessed. The worst part was the tornado that scooped us up and confined us within its walls.

I lost consciousness.

Drifting back into reality, unsure of what I was seeing. My best pals were not swimming around me. Had they survived that Divine provocation? I don't know.

My heart skipped a beat. I fled to the back of the tank. There infront of us was the same Goddess. The Divine Vita. She was staring in. I avoided her look and took to becoming aware of myself. Maybe I was the one who didn't survive? Could this be heaven? I looked around. I noted more trees but less fish. It definitely wasn't the University. A massive current full of bubbles shot above me, I moved closer but it was impossible to swim against that jet-stream. I was flung around and did a lap of the whole tank within split seconds. I must have gone at least 10,000 fry per minute, a new record I must add. My heart was beating fast. I was scared, no, not scared, that was fun. This new place was already feeling like home. More space, more trees, more air, my own little tank. Even if this wasn't heaven, I was beginning to like it.

I decided to take another look for my Uni-Buddies. I spent a few minutes surveying the tank, calling their names, but to no avail. Again the Goddess Vita pointed at me, then a new God, with golden hair pointed at me. I realised this was a sign.

I am the chosen one. My fellow Bowling Team Buddies weren't here because I had been chosen, chosen to lead this small group of adventurous in this hostile new world. Was I the only one in this little world who saw the sign, maybe the others saw it but have yet to realise its meaning. I had to make sure my sub-ordinates understood what it meant for them.

Some Royal-Swanfish also survived 11/9, so I quickly went about nipping their over-sized fins to make sure they knew who the boss was. Whilst going about this essential business, I thought about what to call this new domain of mine. Before my work was over I had named this place.

I am a fish, Lord Martin is my name. This tank is called Tepaitank, I rule over all; this tank and its subjects!