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The facts as seen from underseas

Mileva Anastasiadou

    I would like to introduce myself, but I have no name. I think humans would call me a smelt, if they ever had to get into a conversation with me, which is rather improbable, as we do not share the same language. It is obvious that I am not aware I am a smelt. I do not even know that I belong to the broader category of fish. Humans, though, have a tendency to categorization. They attribute their need to consciousness, a characteristic that distinguishes them from other species. In reality, they use this trait to develop theories that justify their actions. Thanks to consciousness, they consider humankind superior to all other species they share the planet with. The criteria to prove their superiority are solely subjective and essentially based on domination. If the criteria were somehow different, if - for example - they took into consideration the destruction each species causes to the planet, they would be forced to acknowledge their kind as inferior to any other creatures that inhabit it as well. They set the criteria themselves though, and no one ever doubted them. Other species do not care for such classifications anyway, since they lack consciousness, or as much as they may have, it certainly does not reach human levels.
    I have learned over time to avoid boats, as they usually carry humans who fish. When humans fish, I am in danger. Unfortunately, if you take a look at the food chain, you will notice that I could possibly be a part of their diet, so it is much safer for me to stay as far as possible. Lately though, things have changed. The boats that carry ghost candidates are much more than those that come out in the open to catch us in their nets.

    They are many and are stacked on a boat with barely any space to move, forced to wear life-jackets.
    “There is no need to worry,” he has been reassured, but he feels that there is, despite all assurances about the safety of the journey. Besides, he has spent so much money on this trip that it seems impossible it could be unsafe. At this moment though, he does not care about the money. All of his dearest persons are in this boat, his whole family: his wife, three months pregnant, and their two kids who have curled on her lap. She leans on his shoulder in an effort to find some warmth.
    This journey will not last long. The distance is not that big. He smiles at her, in order to give her some of his strength, although he is about to run out of it. She detects the fake smile and lowers her eyes to avoid it. She holds his hand to encourage him. In a while, their suffering is about to end. They will reach the shore and everything will be ok. No more chase, or gunfire, or fear. In a while, another continent will welcome them, where people sleep peacefully at nights, as they did long ago, before the war started.

    These waters have always been the apple of discord between them, since humans always find a reason to start another fight. The waters, in which I swim, are considered rightfully theirs. We, on the other hand, that think of them as home, would claim they are ours, if we had an opinion, yet we do not, because we lack consciousness. This might be either good or bad, depending on the perspective. Humans acknowledge the right to property only to their own kind, occasionally only to the team they belong to, or even only to their own self. Only humans can be owners. At some point, only white people had the right to property, or christians, or only those that they came from a specific place. This kind of prejudice has been overcome and humans think they are progressing. In reality, they have created new ones to replace them.
    Domination over other species was not enough. They then proceeded into trying to do the same over one another. They put imaginary lines on earth, which they called borders, which they changed every once in a while, either a little closer, or a little farther, depending on the power of the team that wished to extend its territory. They built fences to limit access to their nests, and doors to ensure their isolation, under the pretext of security and protection from all dangers the environment could bring, which is obviously considered hostile. The planet’s environment gets more and more hostile with time, because of their actions, not because it wants revenge. In order to deal with the hostility, they become more and more hostile towards each other.

    The wind is wildly blowing while the boat sways back and forth, like a feather, although it should be more stable, crowded as it is. Complaints accumulate and the more they accumulate the more reassuring the voices of the escorts try to sound.
    “We soon arrive,” they shout every once in a while, but “soon” lasts more than expected. As the waves get bigger and bigger and the sky darkens even more, when the clouds hide the dim moonlight, he gets frightened. He opens his arms to hold them all, his wife and his three kids, one of them still unborn, yet alive in her belly.
    “This baby will be lucky enough to be born in a safe world,” he thinks to himself. Hearing his thoughts, she calms down.
    “The worst is over,” she answers back but he cannot help but wonder if the worst is yet to come.

    I may be a tiny smelt swimming in the cold waters, without even being aware that I am a smelt, without even caring either, but humans always had a need for identity; nation, religion, family, even in their teams, each one have their own name to stand out from the rest. Identity is what brings them together, yet drives them apart at the same time. They defend their identity, as if it is the most precious thing in the world. The bigger the team they defend, the more civilized they consider themselves, but rarely do they reach further than their nation, or even their family, or even their own self, when things get tough, forgetting all about civilization and consciousness, without the slightest guilt. Other theories have been developed, claiming the opposite, one single identity of the universe encompassing all creatures, but these theories have not prevailed in the so-called civilized world.

    The boat is tilting. He is so scared that his breath is taken away. The blowing wind makes the situation worse. The boat is swaying and tilting once on the left, then on the right, back and forth and then all over again, faster and wildly, until it turns over. His breath is taken away once again, this time because he is in the water. He fights against the waves with all of his might, never letting go of her hand. As soon as he reaches the surface and catches his breath, he sees them coming closer from afar. He is swimming towards their direction, one handed, the other hand holding tight his wife’s arm. The kids are holding their mother and swim next to her. They are all still fine, yet he has no time to be happy about it. This is their only chance. Somebody is pulling her up. The kids are next.
    “There are so many of them. We can’t save them all.”
    “They will drown. We can’t just leave them behind.”
    “Men can make it. Pull only women and children.”
    The light gets farther and farther away before he has the time to board. He is certain that they will come back. He takes comfort in the thought that his family is safe. He tries to stay still, floating until another team comes back to his rescue. He waits until the dawn, when the waves subside and his body, lifeless, washes up on the shore.

    It is very crowded now, due to the new souls, descending one by one in the cold waters. If we had an opinion, we would say that the sea belongs to its fish. It is obvious though that it belongs to its ghosts.
    Humans have the tendency to underestimate what does not look like them. The further away from them an organism is, the less they care. Sometimes they tend to depersonalize even members of their own species. They use their so-called logic, which has led them into great achievements, but has not got them very far, as I see it. They have even invented proverbs using us, which they use as metaphors to describe their antics. Big fish eat little fish, they say, meaning that might makes right. They are ashamed to refer directly to themselves, I suppose. It might be true that big fish eat little fish after all, at least most of the times and usually when hungry, yet this happens because fish have not consciousness. Humans, on the other hand, who are so proud of this feature, when they do the same thing, they have no excuse at all.

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