ORIGINS: Remember that book we were leafing through? This is the other fish that caught our eyes. Its name is Chiasmodon Niger, and it was love at first sight. It took us back to that day we found a bird floating in a fishbowl. And like any good naive child would have done, we wished it had been a jellyfish because we wanted to see it come back to life.
Once upon a time there was an ugly deep-sea fish that ate a little fish whole. Or was it a little bird? Anyway, the least it could do was put some flowers on the grave before swimming on with its life.
If it had been a fishbowl, the bones would have stayed in their grave, and that would have been that. But we see a jellyfish, and that means rebirth. A new hunger, that has to be appeased.
A lollipop. Because I want to get lost in a spiral maze. If Death wants to reap me, he is welcome to come looking for me. But he won’t find me anywhere near the exit because life is the only eternity I am interested in. The salt water is bound to overpower the sugar, but I would rather take the good with the bad than have no taste buds at all.
Candy. Because I need something I can unwrap. I know that I can’t expect the people who outshone the stars with their neon lights to gift-wrap the world for me, but I need wonder in my life. Something I can look forward to. Something that can breathe life into me. Before the smoke fills my lungs to the brim with apathy.
A bag of candy beans. More colors than I can count. Because I would rather have a choice than settle for the first bit of flotsam life washes ashore, near my feet.
Apple seeds. Because I have heard that a little bit of poison goes a long way. And I would like to be immune to the voices that will try to rot my heart.
Who would have thought that the jellyfish would wrest control? But it has to eat too. Aren’t you curious as to who will sit on the throne next?
I know, I know, I know! It will be an ice crystal! Because consciences are overrated, and the only thing that matters is living your life to the fullest. And even tropical fish know that ice takes up more space than water.
The moon. There. I have said it. Are you happy now? Thieves will always thrive. I would call it borrowing, but it’s plain to see that the moon has no intention of giving anything back to the sun. So, long live the moon.
Why does it have to be a crab? That’s not the lesson I want to take to my grave. Many small creatures, working together, should be able to create something larger than life. That’s the lesson I want. I never wanted to know that one small crab is more than enough to cut a whale to the bone, destroying everything it stood for.
It’s not so bad. At least my successor will be able to take root and stand its ground. Something I, with my jellyfish tentacles, never managed to do. If I had, the sea wouldn’t have washed me ashore so easily.