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There once was a fish that swam against the current with other fishes. These fishes laughed at the seemingly dead fishes that floated by over there heads. A lifestyle of swimming against the current caused the fish to strong, altho they never went anywhere. One day the Fish looked at the dead fish passing by and thought that they did look happily peaceful, afterall the dead smiled and the live fishes were usually stressed. The Fish decided to float with the current for a change. The Fish rose to the surface and was soon bellyup with a peaceful smile. The Fish marveled at how many other fished went by that were still swimming against the current. These other fish aslo made fun of the Fish for he was now a floater and seemingly dead. The time came when the Fish decided to wake up and swim with the current.

ok the problem: I dont want to get caught up in giving the Fish a Gender I dont want to call the Fish it. I dont want to name it anything other than the Fish. these are the kind of thing I want the reader to be able to relate to regarless of anyother differences thatn the ones already in the story. Fish not human & either swimming against or floating with the current. It is supposed to be relatable to humans tho and give a certain "wisdom of the Fish".

The use of he/she doesn't necessarily imply gender. Look at ships, especially naval vessels. They're universally referred to as "she" but that doesn't mean they're female. Another example is the almost seemingly random assignment of "der/die/das" in German. To make things worse, the use of the masculine "der" in singular form usually takes on the feminine "die" when pluralized. Your choices are limited if you don't want to give it a name. You could simply call it "Fish" and avoid the use of "the fish," use "he/she/it," or give it some sort of identifying characteristic (which would be just as awkward) such as "speckled fish," "rainbow trout," "bent fin," or the like. Ok, I'll crawl back under my rock now.

Pick a river-dwelling type of fish (ie: trout) or a species which returns upstream to spawn (ie: salmon). Now pick a couple of initials which go with the name. "T. J. Trout" has a nice alliteration, whereas "B. A. Trout" has a hidden meaning. If you really worry about whether people will think of a fish when they see the word Salmon, use Catfish or something which includes -fish as part of the species name. By using initials, you avoid saying anything about identification. You also have the luxury of using the full name for emphasis or just the initials for breeziness. This way, you can also use repetition for effect, not desperation. You write, "he was now a floater"; that sentence can be rewritten to remove the gender-specific word. The Fish was now floating, watching the clouds drift by and ignoring all the snickers of the other fish. That said... I will argue against the so-called wisdom of going with the current. Carolly

i get it. you can't go against the current because it is sooo hard. you can't just be a floater and not do anything. it's better to just go with the flow and not be stressed out. that's the point, right?

San Francisco has a fish-go-round aquarium at Golden Gate Park. Huge. (I'm pretty sure there are sharks in there.) Most of the fish swim in the same direction, but a few swim opposite. They are far more interesting to watch.

the only real floater fish that I know of is the sunfish. Salmon are upstreamers and catfish are bottomdwellers... i think. Something I was implying is that if one swam with the current with the same vigor as they swam against then they could cover more ground than the opposite swimmer or the floater. But if the call is to swim against the current and stay with the fellow fish or even go further upstream then all is still well. This is with the mentallity that its a river flowing to the ocean and not a circular current... altho it would be harsh for a freshwater fish to swim into the salty ocean. This means the story needs expanded more to explain and possibly focus on how indivdual other fishes fulfill there role. Perhaps I could have a "I. M. Rebelfish", "Ima Floater". Fish needs to be one that covers great distances. Most rebels tho dont cover new ground or make breakthroughs, the ones that do are heralded just as great as Fish in covering great distances. Rebelfish could perhaps get some floaters to start swimming upstream and Ima could get some upstreamers to start floating. The precep of the story is that the upstreamers are not really moving or at least they move upstream but then need a brief rest and are set back downstream.