A Fishy Love Story

Dolly slowly moved to the bottom of the aquarium, her favourite corner when she wanted to just relax. At eight years old, she was slowly realizing that age was getting the better of her and probably her days were numbered.

She smiled and looked around to see the younger batch of goldfish huddled at the other corner of the tank. She was the ‘seniormost’ goldfish in the tank and the kiddo goldfish adored her like a grandmother. She realized they were trying to watch the TV. “How many times have I told you kids to not sit glued to the TV? Swim around and stay active” she lovingly scolded them.

The kiddo goldfish giggled and came near her “Aww nanny, there is a nice movie being played. It is called Titanic. The hero drowns while keeping his lady love safe. So romantic. Such love stories don’t happen anymore in real life.”

Dolly said “Who said such love stories don’t happen in real life? Love did visit me in my early years”

“Wow !!!” they exclaimed. “Tell us about it !!”

Dolly’s eyes moistened as she started reminiscing. “I was just two years old when the owners of this house brought me in here. Initially, it was a small tank and there were just two goldfishes, me and Angel. She was my best and only friend. We ate, swam and played around together in the tank. Then one day, she fell sick and, in a few days, died.

I was shifted to a new larger tank with more gallons of water and the owners brought in more fish to give me company. But somehow Angel’s demise and the fact of being shifted to a new tank made me nervous and depressed. I lost interest in everything and would spend most of my time sitting on the gravel and brooding.

Then one fine day, Jack entered my tank and well, my life. He was a black moor variant and probably the most handsome black goldfish that any of us had seen. We started bonding well and slowly he became my best friend. He was always very positive in his outlook and believed in the gratitude of life and existence. He helped me regain my former chirpy self. By then I had stepped into my third year and had also transformed into a brilliant orange-hued goldfish beauty with the most beautiful tail in the tank [as Jack always used to compliment me

We both fell in love and would spend our time together always in the tank, eating, swimming around and singing duets around the plants inside the tank. We had decided to take our relationship further in the mating season that was shortly setting in, in our lives.

One fine day, the boy of the house brought his friends home. A particularly naughty boy came near the aquarium and started to trouble me. He was thumping the tank from outside, trying to scare me and make me move rapidly from one corner to another. Knowing that I was phobic of sudden vibrations, Jack was trying to swim around me, shielding me and trying to protect me. The boy got annoyed because Jack was obstructing his view. In a fit of anger, he put his hand inside the tank pulled out Jack and threw him outside the tank.

I can never forget that horrific moment as Jack lay there writhing around outside the tank. The other fishes in the tank were also agonized.

By then, the lady of the house came there and saw what he had done. She shouted at the boy for his action. But alas, by then, Jack had breathed his last. Our eyes met for the last time before he died. I cried my heart out helplessly as the love of my life died in front of my eyes. There was nothing they could do and they took him away to dispose of his body. He had died trying to protect me.

“Ohhh …So sorry Nanny… we never knew that you had endured such a painful loss …” the younger fish exclaimed with tears in their eyes. 

Dolly smiled and continued misty-eyed “For a moment, I had almost lost interest in my life. I wanted to starve myself to death. But then, I remembered what Jack always used to say, about the beauty of life and living. He had died protecting me, he wanted me to stay alive, to stay happy and I could not let him down even though he was no more. His thoughts made me stronger and helped me to come out of my depression. I could never fall in love again though. So, I never mated thereafter in my life, as nobody could fill in his shoes. But still, the thought that he was up there somewhere, looking at me and wanting me to stay happy, gave me the strength to carry on with my life all these years. Someday, death will embrace me too and I will, hopefully, reunite with him, if there is an afterlife. But till such time, I have decided to live this life of mine fully with the positivity that Jack left me with. 

Death may take away someone physically from our life, but our love stays immortal always with the memories to treasure."