A goldfish swam silently throughout the small fishbowl. It wasn't expecting anything bad to happen that day.
However, the predator was slowly stalking up towards it.
The fish sensed danger and whirled around just in time to see a pair of jaws.
A gigantic mouth instantly closed over it, sealing its fate.
Garfield let out a small burp.
"Hmm…," he muttered. "Not bad. Kind of yelled a little on the way down, though."
It was that instant that Jon Arbuckle walked in and saw the empty fishbowl.
"Huh," he commented. "An empty fishbowl, splashed water and a fat cat with a contented smile."
There was a brief pause.
"Something is wrong here," Jon said decidedly.
Garfield grinned.
"Sorry, cats. You can't have him," he chuckled. "He's taken."
In fact, it wasn't until very long after Garfield left that Jon put two and two together, and he got four.
Then he realized that Garfield had eaten the fish.
Garfield and Odie were sitting in the living room watching the tube.
"GARFIELD!" Jon screamed.
"You screamed?" Garfield asked casually.
"Garfield, would you care to explain this?"
Jon held up the empty fish bowl.
"It followed me home," Garfield replied.
Jon rolled his eyes.
"Do you know how many goldfish I've bought this year alone?" he demanded.
"About one thousand, five hundred and six?" Garfield guessed.
"About one thousand, five hundred and eight!" Jon snapped.
"Oh, right. Two died from natural causes."
Jon stomped back to the kitchen to growl and grumble.
Garfield shook his head.
"Honestly, Odie, I don't see why he keeps buying pet fish," he sighed. "He already has me! Aren't I enough?"
Odie thought it best not to reply.
"You know what I want? I want Jon to buy something other than a fish. Maybe an octopus!"
Odie made a disgusted noise.
"You're right; too inky. How about a starfish?"
Odie shook his head.
"Yeah, too fattening. Crabs?"
He got a no to that one too.
"Perhaps they are a bit too rich. I dunno. I'd just like something a bit more exotic to go down my throat kicking and screaming."
"ORDER UP, SQUIDWARD!" SpongeBob sang happily.
Squidward groaned angrily as he took the tray that SpongeBob was handing him.
"Thank you, Sir Sings-a-Lot," he muttered. He handed the tray to the customer. "Here ya go. I Super-Duper-Double-Looper-Triple Patty Supreme. My condolences."
"Thanks!" said the idiot fish.
The Krusty Krab was hopping with business on this fine afternoon. The lunch shift had just ended, and the customer number was reasonable once again.
SpongeBob grinned happily as he touched his spatula down on the grill.
It made a cool noise.
SSSSSSS
"I just love that sound!" SpongeBob cheered. "It's the sound of hard work and fun, fun, fun!"
SSSSSS! SSSSSS! SSSSSS! SSSSSSS! SS! SSS! SSSSS!
The hissing was getting to Squidward who finally decided to do something about it.
"ENOUGH WITH THE HISSING ALREADY!" he screamed.
He caught his breath as his eye twitched.
"Sorry, Squidward," SpongeBob said quickly. "But I've been going nuts ever sense work started. I've been flipping like mad back here!"
"Yeah, well, tell me something I didn't already know," Squidward muttered. "Now just get to work. We've got orders waiting."
Just then the double doors to the restaurant burst open.
Mr. Krabs stood there, breathing heavily.
"THEY'RE BACK!" he screamed.
Everyone glanced at him, and then resumed what they were doing.
SpongeBob was the only one with any true concern.
"Who's back, Mr. Krabs?" he asked worriedly.
There was a brief pause.
Mr. Krabs' eyes grew narrow as he looked back and forth quickly amongst everyone.
"…Hooks," he whispered.
Everyone heard that.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" they screamed.
Just so you understand, a hook is a fish's worst enemy, and they had already made their mark in Bikini Bottom before a few times.
There was the hook of '92, the Great Hook-Up of '97, and who could forget the SquarePants Hook '00? That one was funny.
"HOOKS!" SpongeBob screamed. "SAVE ME, SQUIDWARD!"
He grabbed onto the grumpy octopus's head.
"Get off of me!" Squidward shouted, prying him off.
Several fish swarmed out of the Krusty Krab, terrified.
"No!" Mr. Krabs cried. "Stay! It's safe in here! Especially if you buy lots of Krabby Patties!"
But they were already gone.
"Well, that scheme certainly backfired," Squidward muttered.
"This be no scheme, Mr. Squidward!" Mr. Krabs hollered. "There do be hooks just waiting to hook your pants and hoist ye away to a gift shop and mayonnaise!"
Squidward yawned and pulled out a magazine.
SpongeBob was terrified.
"I've gotta get out of here!" he screamed.
He still remembered the last time he got in a tangle with a hook.
"Calm yerself, boy!" said Mr. Krabs. "Don't get all loopy on us yet. Just hurry on home and hide out until the terror has past. KRUSTY KREW! DISSMISSED!"
SpongeBob and Squidward left the Krusty Krab.
"What'll we do, Squidward!" asked SpongeBob frantically. "I can't be caught by a hook! I have a snail to feed! HELP ME, SQUIDWARD! I'M GONNA BE SICK!"
Squidward smacked SpongeBob across the face.
"Will you lighten up?" shouted the annoyed octopus. "What are the odds of one of those hooks catching one of us?"
SpongeBob looked at a u-shaped piece of metal swinging down towards them.
"Um, pretty darn good," he said.
Squidward glanced over his shoulder, and gasped.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" he shouted.
SpongeBob and Squidward whirled around and ran for their homes.
Patrick was sleeping on his rock when they ran past.
"Hey, where's the fire?" he called.
"HOOKS!" shouted SpongeBob and Squidward.
Patrick looked up.
He saw a hook coming towards him.
"Aww, it wants to play with me!" he cooed happily.
"It doesn't want to play, Patrick!" shouted SpongeBob. "It wants to jam us in a tuna jar."
Patrick sat there for a moment.
"Uh…Huh?"
Squidward sighed and showed him a picture of a can of tuna.
Patrick stared for five seconds.
Then his arms started failing and his mouth started screaming.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" he shouted. "HIDE ME! I DON'T WANNA BE A SMELLY SIDEDISH!"
Patrick jumped under his rock and slammed the door.
Squidward ran into his Easter Island house.
SpongeBob made a daring dash for his pineapple.
"GARY! GET THE DOOR OPEN!" he shouted.
But the shout came too late, for at that moment, SpongeBob's square pants were hooked!
"GARY! PATRICK! SQUIDWARD! MR. KRABS! SOMEBODY! SAVE ME!" SpongeBob screamed.
Patrick and Squidward glanced outside.
"SPONGEBOB!" wailed Patrick.
Patrick and Squidward started to run after him as SpongeBob was dragged along the street.
"I can't get it off!" he shouted. "Help! Patrick! Squidward! Get it off!"
"HANG ON, SPONGEBOB! WE'RE COMING!" shouted Patrick.
The hook dragged SpongeBob through traffic.
Boats swerved in order to avoid hitting the little yellow sponge.
Then SpongeBob was dragged through a sea urchin farm.
Uh-oh.
The pointy sea urchins poked him.
"OW! OOCH! EEK! AH! OH! OUCH! AYE! OY! ACK! DOOEY! DOOF! YEOW! YEOUCH!" SpongeBob shrieked.
Once out of there, SpongeBob swung into Mr. Krabs.
"Sorry, Mr. Krabs!"
Mr. Krabs gasped in horror.
"SPONGEBOB, ME BOY!" he wailed. "HANG ON, LAD! WE'RE COMIN'!"
SpongeBob bounced along the ground as Patrick, Squidward and Mr. Krabs continued to chase him.
Suddenly, the poor sponge started to rise into the air.
"HELP!" he screamed. "GET ME DOWN!"
"SPONGEBOB!" screamed the others.
But it was too late.
SpongeBob was hoisted up to the surface.
"SPONGEBOB!" screeched Patrick. "COME BACK!"
The fisherman holding his fishing rod hoisted SpongeBob up.
SpongeBob cowered nervously.
The fisherman dropped him into a fishbowl filled with water.
SpongeBob tried to see through it, but he felt a little dizzy suddenly.
The water was having a weird affect on him.
And with that, SpongeBob SquarePants passed out.