Marty's Egg Yolk and Raspberry Jam Problem

We wrote this story after we saw this. Check out this National Geographic image and tell me that fish doesn't look like egg yolk and raspberry jam! That's all we could think once we saw it. Clown frogfish live in coral reefs and they do turn white when the coral reefs are bleached. We wanted to find out what a clown frogfish would feel if one day, he suddenly turned white.

Hence, this bedtime story of Marty.

Hint: Marty's story doesn't end here.

---

Marty, a clown frogfish, was very strange looking. Although he was brightly colored, a pretty combination of yellow and red, he had many lump-like warts over his body.

Marty loved his body. “I LOVE my colors!” he always said. “I LOVE my warts!”

“Why do you love your warts?” his friend, a baby green turtle called Benjamin, asked.

“It helps me hide in the coral reefs, that’s why!” Marty said. “Reefs are lumpy-bumpy and I’m lumpy-bumpy. If I were smooth, I couldn’t hide successfully now, could I?”

“No,” Benjamin agreed. “You’re right.”

“And yellow and red are the most cheerful colors, don’t you think?” Marty said. “I love blue and orange, pink and green but I love yellow and red the most. I love that I can hide in my coral reef though I’m so bright. I want to be yellow and red always, always, always.”

“You look like egg yolk and raspberry jam,” Benjamin said.

"Yes!" Marty said happily. "I'm egg yolk and raspberry jam!"

One day, the coral reef where Marty lived, began to change. Most inhabitants of the reef did not notice it, but Marty, who was most attentive, did.

“Why are my reefs not as bright as usual?” Marty asked.

“I don't know," Benjamin said. "All I know is, it’s warm today.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Marty asked. "So what if it is warm?"

“Maybe,” Benjamin said, chuckling. “The coral reefs are having an off-color day. Did you get that, Marty? That was funny, wasn’t it? Well, I wouldn't worry. Don't you have days like that?”

Benjamin was right, Marty told himself. Even so, he couldn't ignore a niggling feeling.

---

A few days later, Marty saw a colorful school of parrotfish, with large teeth that they used to keep the coral reefs clean, getting ready to leave the coral reef. “You are leaving?” Marty asked. “ALL of you? Why?”

“We must,” the parrotfish said. “Too much fishing here. We are caught by the fishermen. People keep eating us.”

“But…” Marty said. “You CANNOT go!”

“We have to,” the parrotfish said. “To survive.”

“If YOU don’t keep the corals clean,” Marty said. “The bad algae will smother them.”

“Yes,” the parrotfishes said. “We agree. But what can we do? Boy, it’s hot in here, isn’t it?”

“Hot?” Marty said, suddenly mad. “Who cares if it’s hot? If you leave, the coral reef will no longer be a bustling, busy place, You are important. You must stay. You must.”

“Goodbye, Marty,” the parrotfish, said. "It was nice knowing you."

“No!” Marty swam after the parrotfish. “You can’t go! PLEASE! STOP!”

It was no use. The parrotfish hugged him and left. Marty, who couldn’t imagine leaving his reef, was horrified. “First, the reefs. Now the parrotfishes. What will be next?”

---

Several weeks later, Marty knew.

"The coral reefs are letting go of their zooxanthellae,” he told Benjamin. "You know the algae that lives on the corals and gives them the color and all sorts of help? Those algae. They are leaving too."

“Oh, please.” Benjamin said. “Why would the coral reefs give up something so important? Give them credit, will you? Are you hot, Marty?”

“Will you stop?” Marty yelled. “Constantly fussing about the heat? Honestly!”

A week later, a stunned Benjamin came to Marty. "You were right, Marty. The damsel fish are gone! The wrasses are leaving too!"

"I know," Marty said, dully. "I begged them to stay, but no one listened.”

“What about us?” Benjamin said, sitting down next to Marty, looking even more anxious. “The reef had color before and many fish. Now the reef is pale, the fish are gone, and there you are, in yellow and red. You’re sticking out, Marty. That is not safe.”

“I don't care,” said Marty, stubbornly. "You stick out too."

“It’s like the humans,” Benjamin said, depressed. “White means humans are getting old. Once you get old, you die. But these coral reefs are not old. Are they, Marty? Then why are they white? You know something, Marty? You are pale. You're not the same—”

“EGG YOLK AND RASPBERRY JAM,” Marty said, fiercely. “THOSE ARE MY COLORS. THIS IS MY HOME. I'LL NOT LEAVE.”

He yelled so hard at Benjamin that Benjamin swam away, hurt.

Over the next few weeks, the reef changed to a dull brown, then the coral reefs died. What was once bustling, full of fish and bright colors, was now desolate and ghostly. Empty.

As for Marty?

He was white.

Marty went searching for Benjamin.

“I’m sorry,” he said, trying not to cry. “I don't understand what's happened."

“You know why you’re white?” Benjamin said. “When your reef was bright, so were you. Now the reef is white, your colors are white. Clown frogfish do that, Marty. They change colors to match their background. It’s your body. It’s smart. See?”

Marty looked at the dead coral reefs around him. How quiet it was, instead of the usual lively noise. The water was no longer clear, nor blue. He could not see anyone whereas previously he had to avoid bumping into other fish.

“My coral reef has to be healthy for me to be ME,” Marty said, finally. “If my coral reef is dead, I cannot be healthy."

“Yes and you know something?” Benjamin said. "Esmeralda, a green and yellow turtle, my mom’s best friend, who has travelled across three different oceans and seen many islands in different parts of the world, told me something important. Somewhere north, in the Pacific, there is a coral reef that is very special. Esmeralda said, this coral reef would never die."

Marty stared at Benjamin.

"She told me where the islands are located," Benjamin whispered.

Marty continued to stare silently.

"I’ve a great sense of direction - all turtles do, you know?"

Marty still didn't speak, as if what Benjamin was saying was too much for him to handle.

"Imagine, Marty! A coral reef that never dies... wouldn't that be amazing?"

Finally Marty nodded. "Yes," he said. "YES."

And so, Marty and his best friend, Benjamin, set off. On a new journey, to a mysterious new island, in search of a coral reef that would never die. So that he could find his colors again. So that he could become his 'egg yolk and raspberry jam' self again.