brevity3
i was running along the beachside with a group of students when i saw them slow down ahead. they were looking at something in the water.
i caught up to them and saw a flash of orange through the glare of the sun reflected in the shallow sea. it was a koi fish, much longer than usual. it must have been nearly a meter, and i had never see one so big.
from the tip of its whiskers it began to coil and i saw the mechanical tension of the propulsion ripple through its body. in that moment, i understood how the ancients had conceived of the form of the dragon.
it was dying. the fact it had washed up on shore was already evidence enough, but i could see that it could not stop rolling onto its side.
something inside of me began to hurt. i took out my phone and snapped a picture of the fish.
the rest of us began to get bored and started running again. not wanting to get in the way, i resumed running too. but my chest kept hurting, and it was not for lack of air.
when i got back home that night, i tried to send the picture of the fish to my friends. but when i checked the photo, i saw that there was no koi to be seen. it had only captured the glimmering water beneath the setting sun.