Today I went to my aunt's housewarming party, she lives in a three-flat, and there's a koi pond in the back yard. There were three koi in the pond. One ridiculously large one, which was mostly black and orange and two young ones one black and one orange. Along with the koi there was a turtle, and some very small fish that were dark and under stuff a lot. But one quick thing about my personality, I love anything that's alive, especially fish. I feel like there's nothing you can't relate to if you're open. But there was something so great about that koi pond. The two small koi were, for lack of a better word, friends. They often swam side by side, or with one following the other. They would both stick their mouths above the surface at the same time too. So when it was dark and I couldn't see the black one very well, i knew that any ripples near the bright orange one were likely his best friend. The turtle and large koi took turns annoying the heck out of each other. It reminded me of my relationship with my best guy friend (actually my best girl friend too.). They both liked the same spot, where the water flowed into the pond. The koi would swim over and bump he turtle with its nose, or the turtle would swim up, hover a bit, then *poke*. That made me laugh every time. But then they would just quit and just swim idle and be near each other. It was almost the old married couple stereotype. They couldn't stop annoying each other on the surface, but there was some part of them that was infinitely comfortable with the other, and having them by their side. Meanwhile the teensy dark fish were darting around the bottom, completely oblivious to life above, yet still serving their purpose in the whole system. The fish all had those basic characteristics, but there was also so much more that went on. Sometimes the turtle would bug one of the smaller koi, or swim over to me and say "hi". Or sometimes the big koi would swim across the pond and swim next to the smaller ones. I stared at that pond nearly the whole time I was there. What amazed me about this koi pond, was that despite being fish, and despite being somebody's pet, to these creatures their world was full and complete. And being able to stand and observe that kind of completeness, that is the magic of animals. And if there was a God, or Gods, would that be the magic of humans?