Wishing her could have his friend's goldfish, a boy agrees to trade his dad who seems to do nothing but read the paper. The deal works out well until Mom returns. She wants Dad back. The brother and sister pair go back with the goldfish to their friends, only to learn he made another trade. And so on and so on until everything is back to normal.
I like the author's note at the end where Neil Gaiman explains his inspiration. Apparently his son was angry with him and wished he had a goldfish instead. Gaiman also explains that the idea came to him, but it took a revisit two years later to complete the story. It shows writers that ideas come from experience, or embellishments of real life events (what if he was traded for a goldfish??), and that good ideas might need to sit for a while before they are explored further. It builds a good case for a concept map, brainstorming, or authority list of things to write about so when writer's block pops up, there is something to dig into.
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