Pisces’ Love
In a distant, distant sea, there was a very beautiful but lonely big fish. He had no friends, no playmates, no home of his own, and every day he wandered alone in the deepest, coldest part of the sea. Many seaweeds often entangled him as he swam among these beautiful or not-so-beautiful seaweeds, listening to the lonely sound, drop by drop, like the bubbles he blew out.
One day, he finally got tired of the cold and entanglement. He swam upwards, feeling the water’s temperature warm up, but the lonely sound still lingered in his heart. When he poked his head out of the water, he saw the warm sun, the bright world, the vast sea breeze, and close by, a little red fish sitting on a wave.
The little fish sat steadily on it, swaying back and forth with the wave, looking very happy. The little fish also saw him and greeted him enthusiastically, “Hi, old fish, how are you?” Hmm? The big fish was startled. Am I that old? She actually called me old fish? He said angrily, “You are so rude. I am still very young. How can you call me old?”
The little fish responded with an “oh,” pretending to understand, and greeted him again, “Hello, grandpa fish.” He was so angry that he gnashed his teeth. The little fish giggled and said, “If you complain again, I’ll call you old and immortal. Try it.”
He was so annoyed but had no choice but to laugh. He thought to himself, what an interesting little fish. The little fish took out an empty ring made of iron wire, scooped some seawater, made it into a water mirror, and handed it to him, saying with a pout, “Look at yourself, so lonely and old.” He looked at himself and was greatly shocked. Indeed, he was a lonely and haggard fish.
The little fish took back the mirror and said, “It must be because you often stay below. Remember to come up and bask in the sun like me. I’m very experienced in sunbathing. If you don’t understand, you can ask me.” Interesting, he thought. I’ve never heard that there’s a method to sunbathing. “Then tell me,” he said. The little fish smiled and said, actually, it’s simple. Just come out and start basking when there’s sun. The big fish laughed.
This little fish, full of sunshine, was quite interesting. Thus, the big fish and the little fish became friends. They often teased each other and chatted. The big fish spent more and more time at the surface. Over time, they became good friends.
The big fish was cold, the little fish was warm. The big fish was hard, the little fish was soft. The big fish was melancholy, the little fish was happy. The big fish was rough, the little fish was gentle. The big fish was stable, the little fish was mischievous. These were just their behaviors.
Actually, the big fish could be warm, the little fish could be cold. The big fish could be happy, the little fish could be melancholy. The big fish could be mischievous, the little fish could be stable. The big fish could be gentle, but the little fish would never be rough. What happens when two very different fish are together? Of course, they often quarreled.
Sometimes they quarreled until two in the morning. The little fish got very angry, and the big fish didn’t coax her. He swam into the deep sea with a flick of his tail. The little fish sat on the wave, crying to the moon, her tears dropping into the sea. But the sea was too vast. What did those tears matter?
The little fish thought for a while and stopped crying. No one would coax her, so she coaxed herself. She sat there looking at the starry sky, saying to herself, “Little fish, don’t be angry. I’ll coax you. It’s my fault for making you angry. I won’t lose my temper in the future. I’m really sorry. I’ll take good care of you in the future.” As she said this, she smiled, tears still glistening on her face.
Actually, the big fish wasn’t that heartless. He was watching the little fish from afar. Seeing her coax herself, he was embarrassed to approach.
The next day, he would pretend as if nothing had happened and come to find the little fish to play. The little fish was easy to coax. After a good sleep, she didn’t hold a grudge against the big fish and was still very happy to see him. Gradually, day by day, time passed. The big fish, when happy, would tease the little fish. Sometimes, when entangled in seaweed at the bottom, he would wonder what the little fish sitting on the wave was doing.
Though different, it didn’t prevent them from thinking of each other. The big fish, though enjoying playing with the little fish, was a fish that liked the cold. His home was, after all, at the bottom of the sea. Though the stones at the bottom were cold, the seaweed was messy, and the world was lonely, it was all very real to him.
The little fish on the wave was interesting and warm, but to him, the warmer it was, the more illusory it felt. The brighter it was, the farther it seemed.
No fish in the sea could change their nature for the other. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to change; they couldn’t change. Whether warm turning cold or cold turning warm, whether those above moving below or those below moving above, it would always end in death due to being unable to adapt.
The big fish came often and already felt uncomfortable. His scales were falling off, his protective outer layer was softening. This was a terrifying phenomenon for him. The last time he told the little fish, he couldn’t come to see her anymore. The little fish on the wave nodded, very obediently, without making a fuss, because she knew it in her heart.
This was their last time basking in the sun together. A light breeze blew across the sea surface. The big fish’s skin felt pain, the little fish’s heart felt pain. The little fish’s tears dropped into the sea again. She looked at the big fish and said, “Big fish, I really want to have one more fight with you. Then I could remember your bad side and not think about your good side, so I wouldn’t miss you so much.”
The big fish looked at the little fish and slowly said, “You are the most annoying, most annoying, most annoying little guy.” Then he slowly sank down, closed his eyes, and in the blackness, there was no little fish’s voice anymore, only the faint sound of the sea breeze whistling.
The big fish finally returned to the bottom of the sea and never went to the surface again. Because he was a brave big fish. Occasionally, he would think of that little fish, wondering how she was doing, if she had found a happy companion to play with, and if she occasionally thought of him. He even asked the flowing tides to inquire about her, but all the replies were, no one had seen that little fish on the wave.
One day later, the big fish went for a walk and suddenly had a whim to go to the surface. As he swam up, he noticed something strange halfway up—a small, inverted fish skeleton. It must have been many years, as the bones had been brushed milk white by the sea. It was strange that her head was still facing down, as if, even in death, she wanted to swim to the bottom. The big fish swam closer and suddenly froze. He would recognize her even if she turned to ash.
This was the little fish from the wave. She had come to find him, but she was too small and couldn’t adapt to the cold, yet still kept her wish in her heart, leaving the ocean an inverted silhouette, a determination to swim to the bottom, and a heart full of love.
The big fish held the little fish as if holding the best treasure in the world, the most intimate and gentle movement, slowly swimming, swimming down, swimming to the bottom, swimming…
No one could see his tears because he was in the water.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
