Amelia Bianchi
Durham, CT
2015, Senior, Creative Writing

The fish of Pisces chase each other around and around, seeming to go nowhere, but they  make a perfect shape.

Deep in the black area of space, overlooking a beautiful blue planet, lay a small constellation of stars called Pisces. The first fish of the Pisces constellation was a soul that burned with white-hot fire, always wanting to lash out and grab onto something new. She was often impulsive and did not hesitate to take advantage of anything that was offered to her. The second fish, a calmer creature, was very wise and preferred thinking over speaking. He often sat around, looking at the faraway stars and planets, wondering why they existed in the first place.

Because they were polar opposites, the fish found it hard to get along and would often fight. The fiery fish always loved to watch the humans down on Earth, and was astounded by their conviction to discover and conquer their planet and beyond. The wise fish gave little heed to the humans; to him their ways were primal and selfish. He preferred the quiet company of the sea of stars God gave him to swim in. The only time both fish would simultaneously look at Earth was when they wanted to see their reflection gleam on the ocean’s large surface. The ocean was like their third playmate; it did not judge or fight and it always made them feel like they had meaning, even if they didn’t know what that was.

The humans were the largest source of argument for the fish. The fiery fish wanted the wise  fish to give them more credit and watch their curious ways, but the wise fish wanted the fiery fish to watch the humans less and leave them to their own devices.

“Let the humans ignore the problems they are causing and destroy themselves.” the wise fish often said.

“They will not do such a thing. They will figure out how to care for their planet. They are  very smart and creative.” the fiery fish replied, her eyes gleaming with stubbornness.

“We shall see.” the wise fish said with a confident smirk.

The fiery fish did not respond; she continued to watch the humans every day from then on.

As the years went by, she saw as they expanded in number, built more bustling cities,  polluted their planet, wiped out the majority of Earth’s other creatures, and caused themselves to begin to go extinct. Eventually the Earth turned from a crisp blue to a sickly brown.

The situation eventually got so bad that even the wise fish started to pay attention. One day  he could no longer fight the knot forming in his stomach, so he decided to go straight down to Earth and look at its situation. As he and the fiery fish approached the great ocean of Earth they noticed that they could not see the reflection of their shining scales on the water anymore. They had always admired how the ocean took their reflection, twisted it and turned it in its own web of movement, and spit it out at the surface to radiate back to their starlit eyes.

But now the ocean was too sick to play; too depressed from its loss of life to reflect any  light. As the wise fish flew closer he stuck his fin in the water and twirled it around, letting the polluted water slide past. Chunks of human-made materials of all sizes and colors flowed by and the acidic water stung the wise fish’s glittery fin, making him jerk it out quickly. After getting over the pain in his fin, the wise fish and the fiery fish both looked farther out to sea and saw not a playful expanse of water, but a pool of multicolored, stinking vomit strewn with corpses of marine and avian life forms.

For the first time in a very long time, the wise fish and the fiery fish looked each other  straight in the eyes and erupted in tears. The ocean had been their only friend; it was the only one that showed them what they really were, and what they could become. The ocean was the embodiment of their creator in the cruel mortal world. It burned with the fires of every color and supported every living thing. But now it was forever destroyed by the humans who could not come to a consensus on why it was worth saving.

The fish, not being able to do anything to help the situation, rose back into the sky. As they  came upon their usual place in the spatial world, they turned their backs to the Earth, not wanting to witness the demise of their friend any longer. They did not speak to each other and no longer created a perfect shape. They really were going nowhere.

After many days the creator of the fish went to check on what was wrong with the Pisces  constellation. He came to the stars and found that the fish were silent, side-by-side, with their heads down and their backs to Earth.

“What are you two doing?” God asked in a stern but pitying voice.

The fiery fish spoke first, keeping her back turned and her head low. “Our friend, the  ocean, has died because of the humans. We cannot bear to see the sight.”

“Great God, Ichthys, whatever you really are, why have you let this happen?” the wise fish  turned around, his eyes trenches of sorrow.

God smiled sadly, his eyes filling with long-awaited tears. “Everything happens for a  reason. We must learn from our mistakes. The humans were like you: they could not get along or get anything done on such a scale that the environment needed. However, since the ocean and I are one the same, it has not died. I could never die. It will fix itself in time, you will see. We cannot go back and fix the past because we would never learn that way. Just as you must learn to live with each other despite your opposites, the humans must learn to live with themselves. The present is most important. We can fix anything we want if we try hard enough.”

The fish watched as God finished talking and rose away from them. When he was out of  sight they looked at each other again, starting to think in a new light.

For the first time ever, the wise fish spoke first. “I am so sorry I ignored you when you  admired the humans and told you to be less of yourself by suppressing your curious spirit. I must not be very wise after all for doing such a thing.”

“You are wise, and I am sorry that I caused you trouble. I should think more about the things I do so I don’t disrupt your philosophical thinking.” the fiery fish was sincere in her words.

“Maybe I should think a little less as well,” the wise fish responded with a chuckle. “I may  tend to overthink and not actually get things done like you. I will work with you and not fight anymore, because I love you and Pisces would not exist without you.”

The fiery fish blushed and was shy for the first time in her life. “I…I love you too.”

The fish set back into their pattern in the sky, facing Earth like before, but with a new  determination. Now they had realized that despite their opposite natures, they were drawn together by something that they shared. Each of their natures had combined when exposed to the other, making them behave a little like each other and see things in a less extremist, narrow light.

This is what allowed them to continue rotating as a constellation: their shared knowledge.

As the fish stayed in their constellation for many years, little by little they watched as the Earth repaired itself with the help of the humans that did not die in their own extinction. It slowly changed from a dirty brown back to an inviting blue. The colored specks on the surface of the water started to disappear and the beautiful colors that had once dotted the landscapes and the ocean began to come back into view. Blue once again streaked the water against a small continent in an area called the Great Barrier Reef, swirls of green finally shone again on the shores and in the open ocean where plankton blooms occurred, and large black specks flowed throughout the blue wonder where large numbers of whales, sharks, and fish were migrating. All these great things in the ocean had finally returned, and even the land began to benefit from it. As the ocean revived, it spread its water all across the earth, cleaning barren landscapes and bringing nice, clean water to places that had for so many years been cursed with acidic, brown rain from the sky. Green began to once again dot the land’s landscape, giving Earth a look that it had not had for so long.

The ocean eventually gained its reflective playfulness back, and was once again able to be Pisces’s friend. Although it had returned to an even more pristine state than it had been in before all of the pollution, it had changed slightly with time. Now the ocean shot back a reflection of what the fish of Pisces were, not what they could be, because they had become what they were always meant to be.

The fish of Pisces chase each other around and around, seeming to go nowhere, but they  make a perfect shape. 

Share Gallery

Pisces