Our ancient grandmothers used to tell us tales of the mythical things that occur underwater. They taught us that lives exist in all bodies of water and that water is a life in itself that deserves the utmost respect. Our great-grandmothers also taught us that water gives, but it takes too. This is a story of such an exchange between give and take.

There are four friends, Yoli, Nkateko, Vuyo, and Evan, and these four friends have just come into this thing called adulthood. They each have their share of jabs and punches and ups and downs that life has to offer, but, like many other adults, they survive. When the stresses of the world (from the jobs, families, relationships, schools, and finances) became unbearable, the four friends always find a way to retreat and regroup. On the last Sunday of every month, they head off to the mountains and cliffs of Mpumalanga to embark on a hiking trail, along with many other adults in need of a retreat.

They ascend the rocky cliffs in the scorching sun and descend the sandy hills. They hold onto each other when exhausted and resume again when they’ve caught their breath. It is for moments like these that the friends live, and it is moments like these that remind them why they’re friends to begin with.

This particular Sunday is a memorable one, for it is one that writes a new chapter in the story of their friendship. As they walk on the trail, Vuyo suddenly stops and gazes at the lake. A shiny object blinds his eyes, but it is not the sun. It is glowing, with a cascade of colours around it.

“What’s that?” Vuyo asks, pointing at the shiny object.

“It looks like glass,” Evan replies, squinting his eyes to see clearly.

“No. It’s not glass,” Vuyo adds.

“What is it then?” Evan asks, and Vuyo raises his shoulders.

“I mean, there’s no use asking about it,” Nkateko interjects, and walks towards the shiny object. “Let’s go check it out!” she says, hopping enthusiastically this way and that.

“Nkateko! You guys!” Yoli yells in her soft voice. She wants to stop Nkateko from acting the fool as usual, but is startled when Vuyo and Evan follow her: an unusual part of a familiar routine. “The water is no place to play in, it is tempting and conniving,” she mutters, but her friends giggle at her.

“Come on, Yoli,” they say, giggling at her failed attempt at a lecture. She thinks of all the crazy stories her grandmother shared with her about the mysticism of the water. She wants to share them with her friends, but knows that the stories will fall on deaf ears. So she watches her friends in agony, hesitates, and rushes off to join them.

“Whoa!” they exclaim, holding a peculiar species of fish in their hands, running their fingers along their smooth, velvety bodies, marveling at their shiny scales.

The fish are an arm’s length; they have colourful scales of yellow, red, blue, green, and violet. Their eyes are large and golden like marbles, their mouths are plump like hot air balloons, and the fish sparkle under the sun like the stars at night.

“Man, if we can sell these,” Vuyo suggests, “we’ll no longer cry about our money woes.”

“What are they?” Yoli asks.

“You think they’re worth anything?” Evan adds, dismissing Yoli’s question.

“Forget what they say, all that glitters is gold, Evan, it’s all gold!” Nkateko jokes. “We can sell them at the farmer’s market and see how the people receive them,” she suggests, and then looks at Vuyo and Evan for approval. They nod and turn to Yoli.

“They could be poisonous,” Yoli says.

“Come on, Yoli, you always put a damper on our ideas, you’re like wet tissue paper,” Nkateko says.

“We need the money, you need the money, and what we have in our hands could be worth something,” Vuyo says. “Let’s try selling these and if it fails, we’ll let it go,” he tries to persuade Yoli.

She thinks of her grandmother’s water stories, shakes her head, and decides. “OK,” she says. “We’ll sell them at the market.”

Tell us: What would you have done if you had discovered the mythical fish in the water?