Nathan and Validia—two creatures of vastly different sizes—seemed to savor their moment.
Validia, towering like a whale; Nathan, a regular-sized man, now resembled a small fish.
Together, they mirrored the kind of mutualistic symbiosis often found in the ocean:
the little fish cleans off parasites and dead skin, offering comfort—
while the whale, if it had feelings, might even smile.
The whale doesn't kill the small fish.
It lets it live.
And in doing so, it offers a gift:
the chance to survive a bit longer,
to slip past predators.
A silent, physical form of support—
one that allows the small fish to keep moving,
keep living,
without fear,
happily continuing its rituals of survival.
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