The magnificent goldfish, once in a tiny glass bowl, its stunning red scales

shimmered in the water. You always knew it was growing bigger but now it was too big to ignore. The palace could no longer hold the fish's enormous size. It was strange at first, you could’ve sworn it was a regular fish, but it soon grew and grew. 

Remember that one day. Your father brought home that little fish from the market. At first it was like all your other gifts, expensive but worthless. However, it quickly shattered its bowl due to its size and could no longer enter or exit the house. The bigger it grew the more attached you became. People called it a gift from the Jade emperor, a blessing from the sky itself, and soon people began to urge you to return it, it didn’t belong to you after all.

Today marks the day of the rise back to heaven and of the new year, a joyous celebration of the new year and a new return.

The fish is ready to be returned, it sits on the dock, splashing the harbor workers, before jumping into the water. The crowd cheers and you cheer along with them. The fish pauses for a moment, taking in its new surroundings, before jumping in the air and doing flips. The crowd cheers once more and then goes back to the new year celebrations, like the fish was never there.

Pausing to see the splashing, you wonder if the fish truly did come from heaven itself. Heading back to the celebrations, you hope for longevity for you both.

The golden firecrackers sparkled in the air and showered on the far away splashing and the soft rain of pearls from the tears of 女娲.