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For an english class, I had to change a text's genre into something else. I chose to try and create a short story out of PBVSGR. I also tried to incorporate lyrics to help tell the story. Each paragraph is its own song. I also tried to include the song titles, which often was also a stretch. I figured you guys might enjoy it. Its best to read while listening to the album.
The Fishermen
The waves ripple against the bow of the sailboat. It’s a warm sunny day on the ocean, and a fisherman is out on his daily fishing trip. As per usual, he has been out for hours, catching fish both on a hook and in nets in order to bring back food to his family. He is very skilled at his craft and has already caught many fish. Being a fisherman can be dull and repetitive to some, but it’s all he has ever known, as his father was also a fisherman. As a matter of fact, his whole ancestry were fishermen, so it has always been that he would be another Sequential Circuit in the family machine. Even though he doesn’t love fishing, he has an obligation to continue fishing. He must uphold not only the family tradition, but also must fulfill his father’s wishes. The fisherman looks out off his sailboat. A dark cloud can be seen in the distance and moving in quickly. The fisherman hasn’t caught quite enough fish for the day yet, so he decides to stay a little bit longer and catch some more. As he waits for his net to fill, he drifts to asleep.
The fisherman is awakened by the storm arriving to his boat. For a moment he is dazed, but then he quickly hops up, sets sail and attempts to make his way back to shore. The waves are tumultuous. The sail is spinning and whipping around like crazy. Crack! The sail hits the fisherman’s leg, and he is knocked down. All the rain and waves are starting to fill up his sailboat, the MR Noah. The fisherman gets some bucket and starts emptying the water from the boat out into the ocean. Frantically, he is tossing buckets of water off the ship, drip a lot, drop a lot. Once enough has been taken out, he grabs the sails in a struggle to regain some kind of power over his tottering ship. After fighting with the ropes for a few minutes, the fisherman seems to have gained control and begins to steer the MR. Noah through the waves toward land. The winds are blow strong and upon the gusts he glides smoothly over the ravaging waves. All of the sudden, a rogue gust of wind swings the sail the other way and knocks him off his boat.
The fisherman struggles to reach the surface. As he flails and spins underwater, he looks down into the abyss that is Davy Jones’ Locker, where all sailors lost at sea go to rest. After many attempts, he finally breaks the surface. Just as he attempts to pull himself onto the boat he is knocked back under.
The Fisherman finds the side of his boat and yanks himself up. He thinks about how lucky he is and how he has it so good. The fisherman sets his courses to home and begins to sail that way, as the storm has passed. He remembers why he fishes, a promise that he made to his father that he has dedicated himself to keeping. The fisherman can’t go a day without the oath Crossing his mind. He can still hear the exact Words his father said to him. People call him crazy for still doing what he does and not leaving the family tradition behind, but he continues to do it day after day. The fisherman simply can’t let go of the vow his father asked him to keep.
Once he arrives back in town, the fisherman sees the life of the village. He passes the Butcher, the Baker, and the Candlestick Maker on his way home, all who think the fisherman is crazy for still upholding the family tradition. When he gets home, he is greeted by his son, who he is training to also be a fisherman when he grows up. Hungry from his morning endeavors, the fisherman asks his son to eat lunch with him. As the two are having their meal, a friend of the fisherman runs in to the fisherman’s cottage and tells him that the beast of the deep has been spotted. This creature goes by many names, but it is known throughout the town as not only the biggest fish anyone has seen, but also as the toughest catch on the whole coast. The fisherman’s father had been obsessed with it. His dying wish was that his son catch the fish in order to honor his family heritage. After years of waiting, the fisherman can finally get even with the fish that had caused his father so much grief and stress. The son asks to come, but the man advises the fisherman to not bring that other guy, as the beast is huge and there is supposed to be another storm in the afternoon. The fisherman tells his son that he can’t come. The father needs to take on the monster alone. He must fulfill his father’s dying wish.
The fisherman goes back to the ocean and gets in his boat. He sails back out to where the fish creature was last seen. The father is acting on impulse and not taking things into account, but nothing could be said to him to change his mind. To him all the warnings are just jibberish and as coherent as a baby Boy’s Latin. He has been waiting for this day and nothing can stop him. The fisherman’s heart is racing from both fear and excitement. The temperature drops. A dark cloud descends upon the ocean, and the wind begins to pick up. Out on the ocean, the giant fish reveals itself. The fisherman sees it and with all of his sailing skills, chases after it as fast as he can.
The fish taunts the fisherman by ducking under the hull of the MR Noah, which makes the fisherman keep making harsh turns on the boat. The pursuit is long and exhausting. In order to catch his breath, the fisherman pauses his efforts, but keeps a sharp eye on the beast’s silhouette beneath the water’s surface. The behemoth of a fish sees the fisherman’s pursuit subside for the moment and decides to surface. As his head gleams out of the water, the fish seems to ask the father, “Are you mad?” Enraged by this, the fisherman yells back, “Yeah I’m mad!” The chase ensues, and the fisherman tries desperately to get the fish to bite his bait. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the fisherman finally gets a hook on the fish. He reels in with all his might; however, it’s not enough to pull in the fish. The beast smirks again in the same way that asks, “Are you mad?” At this point, the fisherman is fuming. There is no way he is going to let this catch go; this catch is the reason why he fishes. The gigantic fish is getting worn out from the struggle of power between him and the fisherman, and he begins to succumb to the fisherman’s might and endurance. In a last ditch effort, the beast quickly yanks on the line, and splash! The fisherman is pulled into the water. Fueled by both the promise to his father and validation of his career, the fisherman refuses to let go of the line as the fish pulls him deeper and deeper into the ocean. He must make the choice: does he Come to his Senses and save his own life, or does he give up catching this beast?
Somewhere along the Tropic of Cancer, the fisherman lets out his final breath 50 feet below the surface of the ocean. His soul is released as his body continues to sink. The fisherman’s ghost sees his body sinking to the bottom of the ocean. As his conscious floats in the water, he catches a glimpse of the giant fish swim up to shore and smash his boat to pieces. Literally everything the fisherman had ever worked towards had been smashed by the fish or swallowed by the ocean. All that remained now was the fisherman’s son. The fisherman looks back down, and follows his body’s descent. As he does, he reflects on the decision to not give up on the fish. The fisherman’s father’s obsession and passion had dictated how he had lived his life. Now, his son was fatherless, and he would grow up thinking that he would have to be a fisherman just like he had. He was driven not only by his vow to his father, but also the greed of glory and being able to say he caught the biggest fish in the sea. All of it was worthless, and now his son will be fatherless, and on a path to continue a tradition of fishing that he doesn’t truly have a heart in.
Chunks of wooden board from the fisherman’s ship wash up on shore. The fisherman’s son finds these chunks and recognizes the wood from the MR Noah. He lets out a cry and looks out on the ocean to see the giant fishes head break the surface then submerge. The Shadow of Colossus has fallen upon the son as he realizes that his son was killed by the beast.
That night, the son realizes his father is gone. He tosses and turns in his sleep. His father is now dead and he was all he had in terms of family. Everyone in the town disregarded their fishing lifestyle. The son was now a Lonely Wander on this planet. The fisherman’s son questions as to why his dad would make such a rash decision. How could this have happened? Was it worthwhile? The son’s dreams are haunted by the fish. The fish keeps him from falling asleep. As he rolls around in his bed, he brazenly realizes it wasn’t his father’s fault. It was the fault of the fish. The son is enraged. This fish killed his dad. The beast will pay.
As soon as the sun hits, the son rises from his bed and prepares to go out on the ocean to get the fish that killed his father. As he prepares, the thought of getting revenge keeps nipping at him. The son gets all the supplies he needs and heads out to the ocean to find the beast. He feels like maybe it is in his DNA to be a fisher, and to rid the ocean of fish that harm and kill people like his father. The anger and vengeance within the son is Real. Once the son has gotten out far enough, he waits for the fish to appear in the ocean surrounding him. He sits out there for hours, waiting, waiting, waiting.
The boy thinks he sees the fish and starts to go after it, but then he hears a voice behind him tell him to stop. He turns around and sees the ghost of his father. The son breaks down. His rage subsides. The father tells his son about how he was blinded by greed and a promise to his father that he really never wanted to keep and that it led to his death. The father wishes he could take it back, considering how he will never have a son again. He tells his son that his death allowed for him to realize that the greed and revenge aren’t worth it. The Selfish Gene from the fisherman’s family has been erased. No longer will the family be restricted to being just fishers and trying to live up to standards that no one wants to fulfil. The ghost of the fisherman tells his son to grow on, and that if his son continues after this beast, then the father will have died in vain. His death was a lesson. Without it, the fisherman would have never realized that you can’t make your children live out the life that you always wanted. The father’s ghost vanishes into sea mist.
With the Acidic rage Washed off, the son turns his ship around. He triumphantly returns to the land. The death of his father didn’t keep him down. He will move on. He will continue. He will grow. The son laughs into the chasm that is the ocean, specifically at the giant fish. Fishing may have eaten up his father’s entire life, but it won’t devour his.
