Saturday, October 25, 2008

Jellyfish

Thirsty at the end of the day, I poured water into my mug. It is solid ceramic, mottled like an oyster shell outside and inside. Its weight in my hands was reassuring. I drank. The water tasted mildly of tea.

When I looked into the water a few minutes later, I saw what seemed to be a small white jellyfish at the bottom of the cup. Its milky membrane wavered in the water. Its tattered edges fanned upward, as though it were swimming, but if it was swimming, it was trying to go down through the bottom of the mug. What was this sea creature doing in my cup?

The moonjelly was actually an incarnation of the soy milk I failed to wash out of my mug this morning. The day dried it to a skin, and the water softened it and loosened it from the ceramic, till it swam free.

I stopped drinking, but the jellyfish continued evolving and dissolving. It is trying to become a cloud of milkiness. It does not wish to be solid.

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