NOTE: What follows was inspired by a mother and her daughter, the daughter giggling when her mom thrashes her around in her arms like a little piranha, only to be hushed to sleep afterwards. Playtime, a ruse, and love. It’s written for two sisters to illustrate. Imagine your own illustrations, if you will.

“Bye-Bye, Little Piranha,” said Mama Piranha. “Go to sleep.”

“I’m not sleepy,” said Little Piranha. (SHE LOOKS VERY SLEEPY.)

Moments later, cuddled next to Mama Piranha, the little piranha, littler than the other fish from her school, was sawing big logs. 

(PICTURE OF A SAW AND LOGS ABOVE HER HEAD)

—

While Little Piranha slept, Mama Piranha watched a baby fox inspect the shoreline of their quaint pond in Texas. The fox looked afraid of the water. Its father ate an acorn. “Don’t fret, little fella. The water won’t hurt you.”

Mama Piranha evened her breathing with Little Piranha. She smiled.

“I’m not afraid of the water, Papa. I’m afraid of what’s in the water.”

The father fox walked alongside the baby fox, encouraging the fox to walk along the shore. “Stick with it, little one.” 

—

The next day, while hiding in a clump of pond grass with her classmates, Little Piranha asked, “Where did we come from?”

“Ssh,” said the one with bigger teeth, before attacking an unsuspecting fish. 

—

That evening, Little Piranha asked Mama Piranha, “Where did we come from?”

(INSERT IMAGES OF A RIVER IN PERU)

“We come from Peru, in South America,” said Mama Piranha. “Where the rivers move fast, and eating comes easy.”

“And where it’s warm?”

“Warmer than here. But we are safe, Little Piranha.”

Little Piranha thrashed above the mud. “I want to go home.”

“This is home,” said Mama Piranha. She leaned against Baby Piranha and listened to the sounds of the bigger fish snoring in the pond.

—

Mama Piranha dreamed of being captured in a net, taken from their home in the small tributary off the Amazon River. (SHOW FISH IN A NET, SOMEONE IN A BOAT)

She slept in a tank in a boat, a great big ship, with thousands of other fish, of all breeds. There were piranhas and payaras and tambaquis and even an electric eel that had its own cage. There was even a bull shark. (DRAW ALL THE FISH IN CAGES)

She dreamed of arriving in Texas, of seeing sunlight for a moment when the people in suits transported them from the boat to a truck. Piranhas by nature do not get cold. Yet Mama Piranha shivered when she saw the signs for the Local Zoo appear. 

What was a zoo? What did that make her?

She was placed in a tank with rubber grass and plastic stones. Large, circular lights like a slice of a full moon glared from the floor of the tank. For the first time in her life, nature was controlled by the people in the brown suits. Zoo suits. 

During the day, the lights came on. The people came. They watched her and Bernie and the others swim in the tank. Their temporary shelter. At night, the lights in the floor dimmed. Her and Bernie laughed and became friends. Later, she became pregnant with Baby Piranha. 

—

The next day, Baby Piranha ate a meal of worms and snails while her classmates feasted on fish. She swam with her friend around the rays of light poking into the water like an obstacle course. 

Mama Piranha told her the story of their daring escape from the Local Zoo that evening. “It was not an escape, as the others tell you. A local man, a large, bearded man who teaches children science for a living…”

“Like Mr. Sontag?”

“Yes, like Mr. Sontag.” (SHOW A PICTURE OF A FISH WITH SPECTACLES)

“He purchased ten of us from the Local Zoo. Five for his home, and five for his classroom. The school did not approve of having us live in his classroom. It was a sight, however, one I hope you see one day.” (SHOW A TANK IN A CLASSROOM WITH A WHITE BOARD AND DESKS)

“Why not?”

“They think we’re too dangerous.”

“How come?”

“Our teeth, I suppose.” (SHOW BABY PIRANHA LOOKING AT HERSELF IN A REFLECTION IN A SHELL)

“The big kids eat other fish real quick, too,” said Baby Piranha. “Like they haven’t eaten in days. Only they do it every time.”

“How we look, how we act, I s’pose,” said Mama Piranha. “So the wonderful teacher took us all to his home, but he didn’t have enough space for our growing family. He moved us to the pond on his family property. 

“Our pond?” said Baby Piranha, who was getting very tired.

“Our pond. Sleep, sleepy. Big day tomorrow.”

(SHOW BABY PIRANHA SLEEPING ZZZs)

—

Baby fox roamed the shore in the morning. (SHOW MORNING SUN ON SHORE WITH RED FOX)

Baby Piranha, distracted by a school of minnows, had ventured too far close to the shore. She by choice didn’t eat other fish, but enjoyed watching the minnows swim together. 

When she looked up, the distance between the surface of the water and the pond mud was a mere sliver. She could jump out and look at the blue sky. Through the thin membrane of water, she saw the red fox watching her. 

Mama Piranha instructed her to be mindful of the shore. There were other creatures. And if she were to be trapped outside the water, she would not be able to breathe for long. 

“Don’t be afraid,” Mama Piranha would say. “But be wary of your surroundings. Pay attention.”

“Yes, Mama,” said Baby Piranha.

She blew two bubbles in the water that meant, “Hello” to the fox. 

The fox tapped the water’s surface. The ripples responded, “Hello.” 

The fish and the fox watched each other for a moment, and then one swam away and the other traipsed down the shore, tracking its footprints in the mud. 

—

The big day was Bernie’s birthday. He was not chosen amongst the ten piranhas from the Local Zoo by the nice, large, bearded teacher. If the teacher had known Bernie was with Mama Piranha, he would have surely picked him to join them. 

Every year, Mama Piranha and Baby Piranha and any other fish who wished to join, celebrated Bernie’s birthday with a feast of worms, snails, and other assorted foods. (SHOW A SMORGASBORD OF FOOD AND FISH WITH BDAY HATS)

“To Bernie,” said Mr. Sontag, with his eyeglasses. 

“To Bernie!” they cried. 

That evening, Baby Piranha hugged Mama Piranha. “I miss him a lot.” 

“I miss him too, Not So Baby Piranha. Look at you! You’ve grown!”

Baby Piranha beamed a smile. Her sharp teeth looked lovely. “Not too big for a story, though?”

“Of course not.”

Mama Piranha told Baby Piranha about the children at the zoo who drew smiley faces on the glass tank, and how Bernie would pucker his mouth to show his teeth and outline the smiley face on the other side of the tank to scare the children. 

Baby Piranha laughed until she became Sleepy Piranha and slept. 

Soon after, Mama Piranha joined her. 

—

The mother stops reading. (SHOW A HUMAN MOM AND DAUGHTER IN A CHILD’S BEDROOM)

“Why did you stop?” asks the little girl.

“My eyes are tired,” says the mother. “Long day. Now I’m taking care of you.” (SHE SHAKES THE LITTLE GIRL LOVINGLY) “Oh, sleepy piranha. It’s time for bed.”

“I’m not sleepy.” 

“Oh, you aren’t are you? Well, I am.” 

(LITTLE GIRL TAKES THE BOOK)

“I will read it for you.” (LITTLE GIRL GIVES HER STUFFED ANIMAL TO HER MOTHER. HER MOTHER LEANS HER HEAD ON THE GIRL’S SHOULDER)

While the mother sleeps, the little girl says, “I think I understand now. How some things seem scary but aren’t when you really think about it. Like my clothes in a lump on the floor at night. Or the branches outside my window when they scratch against the glass.” 

“Just sleepy piranhas, sweetheart,” her mother sighs. 

SHOW SPEECH BUBBLES WITH THE START OF THE BOOK, “Bye-Bye, Little Piranha,” said Mama Piranha. “Go to sleep.”

THE GIRL’S EYES CLOSE AND SHE RESTS HER HEAD AGAINST HER MOTHER AND THEY SLEEP TOGETHER.