CYBERFISH
 
 
I really don't know which species to study -- the children or the
fish. Scout night at the aquarium and I was late.  Half the girls
are asleep down the hall, nesting next to the windows, while others
are nearby watching Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Some
boys were playing indoor handball, but the guides made them stop.
I have found a little niche, right next to the glass, where I can
open my powerbook. They say that the sharks are attracted to
electrical current, perhaps they swim over here to peek at my
screen. Fish like to know what is written about them. They glide to
the glass, as if we could touch, as if we could watch each other
forever, as if this were one space.
 
Today, I took tea with my electronic penpal. Meeting "humdog"
touching my hand to the glass as she swam by, it was like a visit
with a dear friend, as if she had always been there. How strange to
communicate with this new species, beings with voices and bodies,
clothes and gestures. Our chatter swirls like petticoats. We
explain, we smile, we speak. We could be anyone, anyone at all.   

4 responses total.

Whoa... I'll reply later, after my awe has worn off.

yum!  The reversal was so sweetly and subtly done.  Thanks.

Beautiful.

I've just read this for the first time.
Reminds me of a feeling that I thought I'd almost lost.
Thanks for keeping it from fading away.

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