Sad little Sea Urchin

A short story about a loveless sea urchin traversing life

There once was a little sea urchin living near coral and sponges. The reef was buzzing with new fish, and one managed to catch its eye. Both the fish and the urchin acknowledged their differences and decided to maintain a relationship regardless.

Wonderful times were shared frolicking in the sand, visiting new reefs, showing each other off, eating charcuterie boards of plankton and krill with cups of brine. But as time went by, these differences became topics of discussion and scrutiny.

The urchin was apprehensive about being touched. The fish had specific needs regarding intimacy. It had to be physical. As time went by, these discussions became more taxing. 

"Hey, do you think you're aromantic?" Asked the fish.

The urchin sensed passive-aggresivity in the question, since the topic had been discussed before. 

"Yes, though not completely aromantic." Answered the confirmed asexual, likely aromantic urchin.

The fish took to passive-aggresivity and pettiness to express its frustration, and the urchin did its thing. Hide its soft-core underneath dozens of spikes. Neither of them could change the core factors that made them so different to begin with.

The urchin resorted to a coping mechanism from its younger days as a believer of the Crustacean God, screaming internally,

"God, WHY would you make me like this?!"

The reef was as silent as that God, and as silent as the fish. Both were past the point of no return. Once again, they discussed and scrutinized their differences, yet this time, chose not to subscribe to the sunk-cost fallacy. The fish and the urchin finally parted ways after trying so hard to make their relationship work.

The urchin took it out on itself. It took the blame for the downfall of an otherwise wholesome relationship. It loathed being touched and loathed itself for it. It loathed the thought of having no one capable of exposing its softest parts.

The urchin was both unloved and unlovable. Frigid, traumatized, abnormal, perverse, damaged... then it thought,

"Aren't we all deserving of love?"

Just as a diversity of creatures existed, so did a diversity of loves. The urchin realized that it is capable of love, just not the conventional type. 

And so, the sad little sea urchin decided to traverse the reefs in spite of its perceived frigidity, trauma, abnormality, perversion and damage. It thought, 

"There must be someone out there careful enough not to squish my spikes."

Amadeus the Loveless

March 28, 2023

Author's Note

Hello, any and all! I hope you enjoy reading me, as I'm pretty much the sea urchin in human form. Those are all feelings I've had and experiences I've lived. The main difference is that I yelled at the Christian God, not the Crustacean one! Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

Edit: I'm not sure why, but the spacing ended up looking strange the first time I posted this story. I'm sorry if it still shows up that way!

Amadeus x