Aithusa and Her Fish Tank

Once upon a time, there was a realm where animals and humans lived in harmony. There had never once been conflict between the beasts and humans. Animals weren’t hunted for their skin, teeth, meat or fur. In fact, animals were human’s friends. There were no differences between the two kinds of species. 

In this land lived a girl named Aithusa. Unlike everyone else, she despised animals. She would die rather than love an animal, a depressed soul you could say. Despite her loathing towards animals, she had some fish in a tank that her mother had kept, before she died. They would often tell bedtime stories to her before she slept. Although being a fervent despiser of creatures, Aithusa couldn’t help but like the fishes. 

She was somewhat a loner and didn’t have any friends. Whenever she missed her mother and wept, the fishes would console and comfort her as much as they could from inside the tank. Deep down she knew, she loved them too. One day a fish escaped the tank and made a leap for the risotto Aithusa had made. He was a Yellow Tang named Fabian. Being big in size, it devoured the entire plate. 

When Aithusa came home, she was heartbroken to see her lunch being eaten by a Yellow Tang. The fishes inside were screaming out to Fabian to come back inside, but it was too late. Aithusa picked him up by his tail and flushed him down the toilet, for him never to be seen again. She was fuming with rage; her emotion clouded her judgement. Aithusa saw no reason to talk to him. When she calmed down and realised her fault, it was too late. Ever since that day, the fishes in the tank stopped talking to her.