Feet clean

While brushing out the algae from the sides of the fish pond, one tiny little gold fish jumped out. It flipped uneasily like an insect; Very small. Jumped out of the tank and smothered it under her foot. On the cemented ground, there it was over.But that was when all really it began.

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A year passes.

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The two gold fish floated dead in her fish bowl, a day after she got them from the aquarium. Poking at them with a leaf stalk wasn’t the way to get them to eat. She felt it, the urge to wash her feet. In the green tiled bathroom,she obsessively scrubbed the soles ,in between the fingers and beneath the nails. It wouldn’t go away, the nasty fishy smell; raw and pungent.

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Few weeks later.

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Walking through her mother’s village. In the twilight, she walked though the deserted path. She was returning after buying milk. She heard the twigs break under footsteps. Footsteps not belonging to her, but coming from behind her. She was calm but continued to walk with a slightly faster pace. She reached the pond, her 1st milestone. The banyan tree followed by a lamp post; then she would reach into the safety of home.

She looked at the stillness of the pond. The surface will soon be shivering with ripples: She felt an intuition. In a matter of seconds, the footsteps came closer and she heard heavy breathing. She was alert and immediately turned around. The man grabbed her and tried to ground her. The milk vessel she held wasn’t very strong. Her arm was. She flung it with all her might aiming his head. The heavy blow was enough for him to lose his consciousness.

Stood up brushed the dust from her clothes, and started kicking the bleeding creature till he rolled into the depths of the pond.

She washes her feet in the same pond. Goes home swinging the milk bearing vessel. As she enters home, was it a laugh of triumph she let out? She enters the bathroom and scrubs her feet, till they are aching; the dead scales flaking from her feet seem golden which turn red, again gold then red. Paranoia.

Later while boiling the milk, it turns into a whirlpool of red and gold. She stares at it with horror filed eyes until it boils over. It smells of raw fish.

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