He’s eight, and he’s at the docks with his mother. She’s buying fish - and, in typical fashion, she’s being very careful about it. As the seller shows her his catch, she notices her son fidgeting.
“Why don’t you go look at the ships, Roderick?” she asks.
Free at last, he runs off. “Don’t be too long!” he hears her shout, and he has no intention of doing so. He wouldn’t call himself a mummy’s boy, but he’s not going to abandon her. He loves her too much for that.
He walks along the harbour, looking at each ship in turn. Some of them have sailors out on the docks, telling stories and showing their wares. One ship in particular catches Roderick’s eye; a big one, its sails unfurled. He wonders if it’s setting out soon. He wonders where it’s headed.
He’s so distracted by this thought that he bumps straight into the massive fish.
It’s hanging from a makeshift gallows, grey and dead. The biggest fish Roderick has ever seen in his life. Its mouth is full of teeth and the boy can see himself reflected in one black eye.
“… Caught off the coast of Africa!” he hears a man boast. “Nearly took my leg-hey!”
A hand grabs his shoulder, and he turns to see a bearded man glaring at him. Truth be told, Roderick’s not as scared as he should have been. The fish had held him in a trance, and he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to look away otherwise.
“That’s mine, boy!” the man says. “If you aren’t buying it, you aren’t touching it!”
“What is it?” asks Roderick.
“A shark. You never seen a shark?” the man’s eyes widen, then he grins and turns to his audience. “The boy’s never seen a shark!” Then, to Roderick, “deadliest fish in the sea. Good thing it’s dead, or it’d snap you up like that!”
He spoke in a jovial tone, but Roderick doesn’t feel like laughing. He looks back at the fish, at that cold black eye. He’s only heard the word shark before, and only once. Some story about a shipwreck. The sharks came and tried to eat the people. He’d had no idea what they looked like until now.
But now he does, and even though it’s dead, this creature will haunt his nightmares for months. It’ll get worse when he’s old enough to learn what happened to his father, how he set out on a ship and never made it back home. Roderick will grow up to deal with men who’d scare the life out of most people. He’d do it without showing any fear. But he has no intention of going anywhere near this creature - or any of its species - ever again. Dead or not.