geo geller

TREATMENT

(narrative)

* I remember one day long ago when I was a young boy fishing with my

great grandfather. We went fishing every day. Sometimes we wouldn’t say

a word and other times we would talk about things and he would tell me

stories. my great grandfather was a very old man when he told me this

story. it was about when he was a young boy and the time he caught a

dream. My great grandfather and i lived on an island, sometimes he would

stare out at the sea dreaming as if he was somewhere else… he loved

fishing and after we caught enough fish for the day he continued to fish

but without a hook and bait. when i asked him why ?
* He looked over at me and with a little twinkle in his eye, said “my

son, the happy man knows when he has enough” and then he began to tell

me this story
* One day, when i was a young boy, it was a long time ago. our village

was hungry, there was food and not much to do. the fish had left and the

fisherman looked all over for them but couldn’t find them… I decided

to go for a walk where our old village used to be, i had never been

there before. My father said we left the village when he was a young boy

because the fish had left and we had to follow the fish… It was said

the only person left behind was a strange old man who lived in the old

way. I think I was a young boy of about twenty or so at the time. And

decided I would see for myself
* I walked and walked, picking wild fruits, bananas, coconuts and

guavas.
* After walking for what seemed like most of the day I arrived at the

old    village and as I stood on a hill I saw an old man throwing a net

in the surf. He had a long beard and was a man out of time, timeless, my

great grandfather said..
* I had heard about this old method of fishing but never saw it… the

old man put the head of the net in his teeth and then untangled the

lower part draping part of it over his bent elbow and when he was ready

he would throw a rock in the water first, hoping the fish might think it

was food, and then he threw the net in the air… It would open up like

a bird in flight and encircle the water… my people called it an

epervier, which means bird… gently talking to it as if it was a little

bird. He moved like a dancer, as he launched his net into the air.
* I approached him and began to speak but he didn’t hear me… I thought

maybe he was deaf or hard of hearing… I started to say something again

but he still didn’t hear me. I tried to get his attention by spoke even

louder, he turned around put his finger to his mouth signaling not to

talk right now and after he launched the epervier he looked up with a

smile… he picked up his cane and nodded his head that it is ok to

talk.

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The Boy Who Caught a Dream by geo geller copyright 1991
* I asked him why he was still there when all the other fishermen and

the fish left long ago. He didn’t answer, but went over and picked up a

fishing pole, puts something on the hook and casts it into the sea with

a far away look and gave it to me. He went over got another pole and did

the same thing.
* We both sat their quietly. The old man sat tall and proudly looking

off into the distant horizon, my mind was full of questions…but for

some reason i sat there quietly wondering. I thought how could he live

here so long with nobody to talk to… did he miss people, things…
* After a few minutes the old man felt a fish but it ran away. He reeled

in his line and saw that his hook was empty, and smiled at the sea as if

he knew something. He put something on the hook and casts it out again

looking far away into the horizon. His eyes resting on the horizon for a

moment, smiled to himself, and nods his head and then sat down again

besides me.
* As soon as he sat down even before the line hit the water a fish bit

the hook and he reeled in a good size fish… My mind was excited as he

put the fish in a bucket and we looked at it together… I looked into

the old mans eyes and smiled he smiled back and I could see he was not

crazy and that the fish had returned to their old home… and that was

why nobody could find them. Then he did a strange thing he went back to

his fishing pole and took the hook off and looks at me and casts again

into the horizon. I thought to myself well maybe the old man is crazy,

fishing without a hook.
* I didn’t have enough time to think as my fishing pole bent with the

weight of a big fish… The fish jumped out of the water and I could see

that it was the biggest fish I had ever seen… It had the colors of the

rainbow… a Rainbow Fish I thought to myself, I had heard of Rainbow

Fishes but had never seen them, they were rare and nobody ever caught

one… and here I was with a Rainbow Fish… I couldn’t believe it the

Rainbow Fish was jumping out of the water in an arc like a rainbow…
* I started to reel in slowly and then i got excited as I reeled in

faster and faster and in one last rush the Rainbow Fish jumped out of

the water and looked over at me and spit out the hook… The old man

laughed. I was so excited I was besides myself, I couldn’t believe it a

Rainbow Fish !… I hooked onto a rainbow I thought nobody would believe

me. I was excited I signaled to the old man to please put something new

on my hook. All I could think of was to catch that Rainbow Fish… I

didn’t want him to get away. The old man gave me his pole to hold as he

prepared my pole and then put something on the hook and began to cast it

into the horizon… he stopped for a moment and smiled at me with a

strange smile as if he knew something I didn’t and then cast as far as

the eye could see… We exchanged poles he sat down… We sat there

quietly together. I with my mind running a thousand miles a minute… I

couldn’t stop dreaming about catching a Rainbow Fish I was too excited

to talk, and he sat there with a quiet smile on his face…
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The Boy Who Caught a Dream by geo geller copyright 1991
* We sat there for what seemed like forever. After awhile I excitedly

asked the old man if he saw how big the fish was and he nodded his head

and turned to the sea… I thought about what I was going to tell my

friends and everybody… but then nobody would believe me unless I came

back with a Rainbow Fish… I decide I was not going to leave until I

caught him again, and then I would tell everybody. I anxiously pulled at

the line hoping to feels something the old man was siting quietly

looking off into the horizon not saying anything. I began to talk about

my dreams about all the things I wanted in life, to become rich and

having a big boat, house and lots of things. Maybe now that the fish

have come back I thought to myself… now I will get rich… The old man

looked over and smiled… I told the old man not to tell anyone about

our secret. As I dreamt about what I would do with all the money and all

the things I will buy once I caught the Rainbow Fish.
* It was getting late and the sun began to set and as the light fade I

knew it was too dark to return to the village it was to far away… And

I wanted to catch the Rainbow Fish…
* The old man cooked the fish as we both ate watching the sunset.
* As night fell I can remember looking at the stars and seeing the

fireflies come out and I was thinking about rainbows as I fell asleep.
* In the morning I woke up to find the old mans fishing pole next to me

with a fish on it, the old man was nowhere to be found.
* About that same time every day before sunset the rainbow fish would

come and take my hook in his mouth and jump out of the water as if it

was flying and just as i thought i had him he would turn around look at

me and spit out the hook… he did that for as long as i could remember

and then after many years one day a young boy of about twenty came and

caught the dream.
copyright geo geller 1990 ver. 2893

geo geller 280 9th Ave, #20B, NYC 10001 email: geo@geogeller.com