The boy who had a fishbowl on his head

In the wavy streets today I saw a boy. He had a fishbowl on his head, the way a fishbowl would be worn, upside-down. The rim of the fishbowl fits perfectly around the girth of his neck, the water filled to the top, and I was amazed to see that no water seeped out. It was almost like a habitat inside his fishbowl, with his brown hair substituting for seaweed, and his head a giant reef. There were a few tropical fish swimming around, some angelfish and clownfish. It was a strange sight indeed.

I went over to him like a diver pursuing some very rare marine animals. “Hello, young sir. Why do you have a fishbowl on your head? Will you not drown from lack of air?”

He looked at me cautiously, with bright blue eyes distorted by the glass. “I like fish,” he said. He ceased speaking as he tried to observe me, but his gaze started to follow the fish swimming in front of him, and I felt obliged to keep the conversation going.

“How do you breathe in the water?” I inquired.

“I am a fish, and fish breathe water,” he said, making small bubbles with his mouth. “Blululululu.”

I looked at him curiously. He was most evidently human, and the only thing that set him apart was the fishbowl. He had two feet and two arms, and no tail nor fins. But in the distortion of the fishbowl I could almost see his cheeks flapping rhythmically, revealing gills beneath, extracting and absorbing the oxygen in the water. His fishy friends swam around him in a comfortable, friendly manner, their fins and tail occasionally brushing his face as if they were communicating with him.

Well, a boy could dream, I decided. I glanced at him one last time, his happy face in the fishbowl marking itself in my memory. I walked away, and left him to his delusions, softly pondering to myself.

As I lifted my head to gaze at the heavens, I saw a reflection. The bowl of the atmosphere displayed to me a vision, a world that seemed to take shape of a sea. The waves rocked gently and warmly, and the sun shone through the crests above, and mysterious creatures lay asleep in the depths. Schools of fish swam to and fro between the corals, in search for food. The water was all-pervasive, washing above the people and the land.

I smiled and shook my head, realising that not all was lost, and swam on.