Once

He was once a big fish.

The pond was smaller then, true, but he paraded through it proudly. He marked his territory, he made a name for himself, he always spoke to be overheard. He out-alpha'ed every alpha male.

But the world changed without him noticing. The pond became a lake, became a sea, became an ocean, and one day his language was outdated, his knowledge old hat. His name became lore, part of history while he was still living. His time was over.

His world is so much smaller now, and the outside world so much more extreme. It frightens him. He makes small trips, tentative motions, trying to keep up with the tide. More and more, he sees on tv things he's never heard of, places he's never been. Mostly, he thinks about his pond.

Once, he was a big fish.