Can Love Kill?

Can Love Kill?

I was a few days old when I realized my existence in the world. I was surrounded by thousands of similar fishes. We all looked almost the same in color and size. It was a strange feeling amidst them. I wanted to find out who my parents were and started to search for them fanatically. It didn't take me much time to tire out myself. I soon realized I wasn't part of any family.

"Having somewhere to go is home, having someone to love is family, having both is a blessing." I was deprived of both in life.

The very next morning we were all loaded into a bigger container and were being parceled to different locations. There was much more variety of fish that were added to the same container. The journey was pretty long and tiring. The roads were broken into patches which even made it worse. Finally, after five hours we reached the hub.

On reaching the destination we were sold off to different vendors. The vendors got us shifted to smaller containers and drove us back to their region. This journey was even worse. We kept swaying like a thin branch on a windy day. The roads had big potholes everywhere. Eventually, we reached our final destination.

I was shifted to a better place. It was lit and had plenty of space to move around. It was homely. There were similar-looking fishes in the aquarium now. We were well-fed and properly looked after. Indeed, we felt homely.

"Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so."

After a couple of weeks, I grew bigger and more beautiful. I was the most admired fish in the tank. One fine afternoon, an old man stood with a small boy in front of the shop. They had come to buy fish for their tanks. I wasn't interested in leaving my new home. The boy without any hesitation pointed towards me and within a fraction of a second, I was tied into a plastic pouch.

Once I reached my new home, I was greeted with two fish. It was a medium-sized bowl that was fitted with a water filter and a few live plants. They had used a dim light to make the jar look more beautiful at night. There was less space but more food for us.

The boy finally gave me a name. I had a name for the first time. They called me Nimo. They had recently watched a movie on television about a fish from where they had chosen my name. I had orange and white stripes on my entire body, my eyes were brown. I was a clownfish, mostly found in saltwater. They usually don't survive without saltwater but I had pulled up a miracle.

One day, the boy was cleaning the jar. He placed it on the washbasin and slowly removed the live plants, the water filter, and then the two fishes. He didn't use any net but rather his hands for the job. Once he caught me with his bare hands I felt I would slip out. Bang On!! The moment he took me out I fell into the washbasin. In no time, I slipped through the hole and straight into the darkness.

The house was located opposite to a beautiful lake. The lake was surrounded by beautiful flowering trees. It was a man-made park. Every evening it was filled with young and old people.

I slipped through the pipes with great force. It was scary, but thrilling too. After a minute-long ride, I finally plunged into the lake. Luckily, the washbasin pipeline was connected to the lake, else I would have been dead by now.

Once I plunged into the lake, there was more darkness. The water wasn't very clean. It gave a very foul smell. I felt like I would choke myself to death. It took a moment for me to sink into reality. I knew I had to live and there was no looking back. I closed my eyes and swam into the lake. 

I kept swimming around looking for food and shelter. It was getting darker. I could feel my heartbeats beating faster. I was determined to live. At that very moment, I could see some light in the corner of the lake. Once I reached it, it was filled with hundreds of fishes that were gigantic. I knew it would be a difficult situation to sneak in and get some food. I had no option.