Zuzi followed me reverently up to Acheloos banks, a river that counts centuries of presence among the slopes of the mountains of Central Greece. The legend says that it was once a god and that the impetuousness of its waters composes ancient greek melodies.
Our first attempts were an extreme failure, but our petty hunger and the nice atmosphere urged us to make a few more tries.
There Zuzi..did you notice that it tried to catch our bait? She smiled and told me that she was pretty smart to be seduced with false tricks.
Our last attempt was the most successful of all. A beautiful and hyperkinetic trout had just been tricked by my fake bait and was coming towards us, ready to satisfy our appetite for fresh fish.
I was happy and surprised by the result. With superabundant skill I disengaged our little friend and I was already seeking to find a broken branch so as to carry it towards the fire in the village.
My eyes had this feeling of satisfaction after victory. But not the eyes of Zuzi. I'll always remember those eyes..the way they stared at me and the moribund fish in my hands.
Please Elias...can you throw it back in?
Zuzifish was swimming freely in the white waters of the river a few seconds later.
That night it might have found a few good friends of his and narrated that great decision of Zuzi. It might have seen places it hadn't seen before. Perhaps it could help us ,too,with its special own way in the future.
No, it was not an act of love towards nature, it wasn't the act of an activist who's fond of animals and is a philanthropist. It was just a feeling of solidarity urged by those few pure things that we can keep alive inside us.
No, I won't stop eating fish..but maybe I'll start to value the moments and make decisions that emanate from my heart and have as a compass the most sacred and gentle things of the human soul.
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