The Gobi Fish

N.B. The voice is intended to be David Attenborough narrating the life of the Gobi fish (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p004y2h5) juxtaposed with montages of evolving stages in human life.

VOICE: It’s a tiny Gobi and it’s a rock climber.

Fade in. We are played a montage of images and footage of a baby crawling and eventually learning how to walk as a toddler.

VOICE CONT’D: With pelvic fins fused into a disc which acts like a sucker, all the Gobi needs is a film of water to climb through.

Cut to: Images of a small girl in a classroom, sat at a desk. She, and all her classmates, looks at her teacher, who is gesturing dramatically.

VOICE CONT’D: The pioneer is soon followed by many others, possibly following its scent trail.

Cut to: Image of a young teenaged boy in a school gym, writing at a desk. We see the number of other pupils in the room doing the same underneath a large clock. We flick between various pupils frowning and confused, some with head in hands.

VOICE CONT’D: They clamber on, ever upwards, against the flow.

Cut to: Montage of different teenagers smoking, drinking, fighting, being promiscuous, before we see one girl running determined along a path while swigging cans of Red Bull, carrying folders and pads of paper towards a school.

VOICE CONT’D: Drops of water fall like bombs.

Cut to: A different teenager being given an army brochure. He looks at it with reluctance. We see him fighting. A girl looking in a newspaper, then, in a flash, sighing at a list on a computer screen while wearing a headset.

VOICE CONT'D: False leads waste crucial energy.

Cut to: Another young man watching television, smoking a joint.

VOICE CONT'D: Some must rest.

Cut to: We see a different man return home through his front door. He aggressively rips off his tie and kicks a table. His face falls after he opens an envelope, seeing the word ‘Eviction Notice’ written in bold, red lettering.

VOICE CONT’D: For others the effort is just too much.

The man rushes into his bathroom, empties a handful of painkillers into his mouth and takes a painful gulp of water from the tap. He sobs at his reflection.

VOICE CONT’D: Many die in their attempt to reach the top.

Cut to: A young woman in graduation robes laughing with her friends and family, posing for photographs.

VOICE CONT’D: Against all the odds, a few heroic individuals do make it to the top.

Cut to: A man eating at a table in a restaurant opposite a woman. Montage of them in attire on their wedding day, then posing next to their house.

VOICE CONT’D: They find themselves in a near perfect fish habitat, where the Gobies can feed and grow and breed in peace.

Cut to: The same woman but pregnant, smiling. Then, her giving birth on a hospital bed, then holding a baby weeping with happiness. Gradual focus upon the newborn baby.

VOICE CONT’D: In time, their own young will be swept downstream and out to sea, and the cycle will begin all over again.

Cut to: A speeded-up montage of various images we have seen so far. Then in reverse. Fade out.