It felt like the end of the world for her.

She hadn’t slept well in weeks. Her appetite had vanished, not just for food, but for the life itself. But, this was not all of sudden. She could vividly remember her life a month before; it was so exotic and adventurous! She had plans to discover so much and felt so happy in her school surrounded by her many friends. Each moment of her life had been simple, yet beautiful, floating in an endless loop of happiness.

Now, all she had were memories. Alone, trapped, and forgotten.

Her train of thoughts came to a halt as she heard him coming. He didn’t seem happy but his face softened slightly when he saw her. Well, why wouldn’t it? She was so beautiful. She radiated colours of joy and she sparkled the beauty of nature, even when she was feeling the worst in her life. She had the most amazing figure and had the agility that could put even the best gymnasts to shame. He used to enjoy her company after he came home tired and spent. That thought alone had kept her going ever since he brought her into his world, a world she never chose.

The life with him had curtailed her adventures and her free spirit. She was a captive. There was nothing beyond the four walls where she could have gone, She was terrified of the outside, the unfamiliar world full of strange, cold people getting on with their petty lives full of deceit and lies. She missed her home filled with the marvels of nature, far away from this city. She did not like this part of the world she was brought in, in fact she hated this place.

His voice pulled her back to the present. “Are you hungry?” he asked.

She didn’t understand a word that came out of his mouth. All she knew was that she had no appetite but she couldn’t say anything. She just looked at him blankly and as unaware as he was, he just served her the dinner. She didn’t touch hers, he ate like it was his last meal on earth. They did not talk. What was to talk about anyway? Their thoughts, culture and ideas were too different except for one thing, he thought her to be his captive and so did she!

The night came and he didn’t even wish her good night, as usual. Well, it wasn’t his fault, he believed that feeding her was enough. That everything else would take care of itself. Humans often believe that.

The night was unbearable for her. It seemed she had enough of this captivity. She had taken a decision and it was time to act on it. She felt so uneasy but the thought that this nightmare would soon end brought her a strange feel of calm. Her body swayed, struggling, desperate to escape, like she wanted to splash out of her misery and eventually she did succeed after a lot of struggle.

She couldn’t breathe. He didn’t even notice.

At last her struggle faded into stillness. She wasn’t afraid. She didn’t think of her suffering. Only of the joy she once knew. And in that moment, just before death, she was free. It was the end of her life, her dreams and her suffering.

He woke up quite early the next morning and as usual he looked besides him to check on her.

She was not at her usual place.

He searched, finally found her lying as a lifeless figure on the floor. He was dejected.

“Stupid, ungrateful thing,” he muttered. “A whole fortune spent and just a few days of enjoyment!”

With a sigh, he picked up that slippery fish that had once filled his dull world with fleeting colour fish and tossed her away in to the garbage dump along with the water in that tiny aquarium, her home, from which she jumped sometime during last night.

She lay there, still glistening, surrounded by filth.

But perhaps, her soul had already returned to the ocean, where it truly belonged.

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