It moves jerkily in my midnight dream. A thousand Sundays ago, it used to raise my hope for a pearl-spot fish, pulling my nylon line. That climbing perch creates new ripples in my mind. More than a fry, its vigor fascinates me. This zigzagging agility can keep any love alive. It travels on its pectoral fin, detecting water vibrations in the distant canal. This sixth sense is yet an inspiring mystery. Living alike in fresh and brackish waters, it never succumbs to situations. This dark blotchy iron fish meets any survival challenge, existing in low oxygen or scorching temperature. Unlike other fishes, it digs and buries itself in the mud to defeat the torrid time. Today I too have to be the climbing perch. First published in The Literary Hatchet *The climbing perch is a small fish remarkable for its ability to survive out of water for a long time.