Short Stories

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In a river deep in the Amazon forest there lived a large school of piranha. It was common among the male piranhas to fight for a mate or kill weaker piranhas to eat, as many craved the flesh of their own species. It was a gruesome lifestyle followed by many of the males, and Zebu was no exception.

One day, as Zebu was hunting for his favorite meal – weak, female piranhas – he came across the most beautiful piranha he had ever seen. His eyes grew big, and his heart beat so fast and hard that his chest stretched out every time his heart beat. All of a sudden, nothing was in the world but this one piranha girl.

As he stood staring, the female piranha, whose name is Oki, noticed the handsome piranha looking in her direction. She too, instantly fell in love. She swam towards him and the two started a conversation that took up the rest of the day.

~*~

In a few days, the two got married. All of their friends and family attended the ceremony. Oki was well versed in the ways of the piranha, especially in males killing and consuming females. So she took this opportunity to make take an oath.

In a loud voice she asked, “, before we are married, will you promise not to follow your old lifestyle of hunting?”

This was putting it at its easiest. Everyone knew what the ‘old lifestyle of hunting’ was, and of course understood. It was hard for him to make a change right on the spot, as he hunted in the old way up to the time he met Oki, but he gave her his promise.

“I love you, Oki, I really do.” He whispered in her ear after everyone started to cheer.

~*~

Soon after their marriage, Zebu and Oki were the proud parents of many little piranhas. gladly went out to hunt every day to bring back good food for his spawn. Oki spent her days taking the piranhas to visit with her friends and their little piranhas. They could not be happier.

Then one day, everything fell apart. no longer brought back good food for the children. He complained about being too tired and full to get anything but small, measly insects. And it was true, for Oki noticed he ate less and less as the days went by. She also noticed that slowly but constantly, many of her friends were disappearing. But news was always late because her friends’ families will have moved to a different part of the river before the news reached her ears. The children were constantly exposed to their parents arguing, fighting, and having disagreements. Seeing so many of their friends disappear didn’t help either. Life for the family grew worse and worse.

During one of their silent treatments, Oki found what seemed to be part of her friend Kiap’s favorite Canal dress. Soon she also found Mila’s designer shoes. Instantly suspicious of these articles lying around in her territory, she went to look for Zebu. She found him among a bed of aquatic vegetation, busy with something. When she approached, he whirled around quickly.

Holding out the clothes, she confronted him about them. Zupo became angry and defensive, claiming that he had nothing to do with them, and that maybe they washed up from somewhere else. “It could be that they misplaced it,” he exclaimed defensively, “or you borrowed it from them a long time ago and forgot to return it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. These are THEIR possessions. I haven’t borrowed anything from anyone since I was single! Besides, they’ve disappeared long ago, so wouldn’t I remember their stuff?”

“Well I don’t care. That’s YOUR problem. Now go away and give a guy some privacy, will you?”

Zebu began pushing Oki away, but as he lowered his head to apply the force, she glimpsed a familiar object behind him. Shoving him away with all her strength, she swam towards the object.

What she saw made her freeze in complete horror. There, lying partially hidden by the vegetation, were the remains of her old friend Ova.

~*~

Oki stared at the pieces in silence. The truth slowly seeped into her mind, and nothing but the sudden realization occupied her thoughts. She did not hear yelling for her to go away, and his efforts to remove her from the scene were in vain.

Finally, she turned around. Tears ran in streams down her face. In an agonized voice she cried, “You! It was you! Why? Why? Why would you do this? You—“

“Oki— I— listen—” tried to cut in.

“No! YOU listen to ME. Why did you do this? You promised at our wedding that you will stop your old lifestyle. You took an oath, an OATH! It was a covenant, and covenants are not to be broken! Why? These are my friends, my sisters! Have you no respect for females at all? You say that you love me, but you go off and consume my friends as mere prey! Why, tell me why?”

Oki broke down and began to sob like a newborn piranha once more. She mourned the death of her friends, the lost of her sisters, and the breaking of her husband’s promise. Everything as she knew it was gone. Everything had fallen apart.

It was a long time before their relationship healed.

THE END

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