Short Shorts

Finding Love In A Foreign Fish Shop

A/N
This is a 98% true story about an experience I had in a small, quaint fish shop in Lausanne, Switzerland the summer of 2001.

Hope you enjoy woodlander8

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It was the most gorgeous fish I'd ever seen, and I was hypnotized by the way its frilly fins rippled as it floated towards my submerged finger. I heard a cry from across the room and jerked my head up to see the round, aproned shopkeeper waddling towards me. He waved his arms and spluttered in a language I didn't understand. I removed my finger from the water, bewildered at his strict tone.

My friend rushed over from the goldfish tank she'd been examining and hurriedly translated what he was saying, that this particular fish was inclined to bite and was quite dangerous. I turned back to the fish and watched as it hovered near the surface. Its striped fins undulated enticingly, and I couldn't resist lifting my hand once more towards the open tank. The shopkeeper must have been watching me because he slammed a screen over its top, successfully separating me from the beautiful fish. I looked at him, insulted, but he only narrowed his eyes. My friend in turn rolled her eyes at me, and the two of them returned to their tasks.

I stood alone in the center of the small, old shop. I was tall enough that I could see over all the aisles; there were no other customers beside my friend and I, but even if there had been, I couldn't talk to them. Sighing, I turned to the wall of saltwater tanks to watch the seahorses. Delicate and fragile, they skittered through the water, never reacting to the finger I pressed to the glass. Still, they captivated me, and I stood enthralled until my friend joined me and told me she was ready to go. "I love these," I said to her, unable to look away from them. She snorted, and I heard the floor creak as she walked across the shop to the door.

When I heard the bell on the door, I turned to follow my friend out. Instead, I was met by the sight of two teenage boys entering the shop. At least, I think there were two, because my vision blurred and focused all at once on just one of them. He stopped as if in shock, gaping at me with awe in his face. His hair was just shy of being long, and he was neither taller than I nor particularly good-looking, but when our eyes met, I felt something electric course between us. He remained frozen in place as I moved as if floating towards him.  We held each other’s gaze unblinkingly. Then, when I was near enough that I could smell his cologne and note the muddled color of his hazel eyes, he made a small movement. My vision blurred further. Just as I stopped before him, I felt a sudden jerk and was shocked that my friend was pulling me by the arm through the exit. I turned, desperate for the link to remain with the boy. He too was watching me, a look of surprise in his face as my friend forced us apart. Then the door slammed shut, and the connection broke.

"I think that was love at first sight," I said to my friend in a daze. The world still felt fuzzy.

She didn't release my arm as she snorted a second time. "You fall in love with everything."