Friday Fish Fiction 3

Arphaxad is back with the third installment of her story.

The Flounder was the best-looking fish I had ever set eyes on. When we first met, he was still quite young, and his eyes were not yet on the same side of his head. I refused to believe my friends when they told me he would end up that way; I imagined that they were all sick with envy, but now I realize they were pitying me for my delusions. How could I not have seen he was nothing but a bottom feeder? They say love is blind, and I offer myself as living proof.

The Flounder would come and go, dividing his time between me and who knows how many other fish, but there was a particular one who was his favorite. (At the time I believed myself to be his Other Favorite, but more likely I was his Nothing Better to Do at the Moment.) Every time I thought he was gone for good, life lost all meaning until he would return again. Finally my friends told me to get over him after he had been gone for months, and I resolved to find another fish to love.

And so the parade of fish began. I would meet one fish, just to discover he was an eel; the next would be a barracuda in disguise. There were the harmless but boring little gobies, and the handsome flying fish who leapt away into the sky. I gave my heart to a few, and sent the others on their way, but I didn’t waste many tears over any of them. I was still madly in love with the Flounder.

Looking back on the whole thing now, I can see that his view was already becoming one-sided during the time I knew him. What he must be like now, I do not even care to imagine. When he returned to me that last time, I was shocked by how close together his eyes were. Could everyone be right, and he really was just a Flounder? But I gave myself to him anyway, fins, heart, and soul. When he finally left me for good to be with the Other Fish, I was certain my life had ended. But instead it had just begun.

Famous Hat