The Year of the Boyfriend by Allen Taylor (Random Title #4)

Down by Chocolate River the pixie fish searched for humans. They dug their fins in the orange mud and wiggled them, hoping to find the meaty ones.

 "How old are you?" Pryznda asked Jivvryi.

"Fourteen Zhcitharii," Jivvryi said as he picked his teeth and wiggled his fin. "How bout you?"

"I'll be thirteen next fourdy," Pryznda said. "I was born in the year of the boyfriend."

Jivvryi hated the year of the boyfriend. It was a very bad year, the year his father died. But that was the last year of the boyfriend. He figured Pryznda was born the previous year of the boyfriend before that. After asking her, he was reassured that his assumption was correct. Logic even works for pixie fish, and that made him feel self-satisfied.

 "Wanna play?" Pryznda asked, winking.

Jivvryi shrugged. "I guess. I thought we were going to fry some humans."

"We will after we play."

Pryznda took Jivvryi by the fin and dove into Chocolate River. She pulled him down deep into the chocolate and swam to a cavern at the bottom. Jivvryi was apprehensive. He'd never dove into the river before and was certain he wouldn't live long down there. When they entered the mouth of the cavern it suddenly grew very dark. It was so dark Jivvryi couldn't see two inches in front of his pixie fish eyes, so he didn't see when Pryznda took off her skin. When she grabbed his hand and rubbed it over her body he grinned. It felt nice, a lot nicer without the scales.

"Go ahead," Pryznda bubbled through the chocolate. "Feel them."

Jivvryi took his time. He moved his fins slowly over Pryznda's smooth body, slowing down for the parts that were different than his own. He could hear her sensations of pleasure echo off the cavern walls and float through the chocolate. He almost fell over when her fin slid from his tailfin upward toward his head, slowing for the male parts. He liked it but was too nervous to say. Before long, she had his skin removed.

Jivvryi forgot all about the humans. Through the chocolate, he managed to bubble a sensual, "Happy Year of the Boyfriend."

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Allen Taylor is the publisher/owner of Garden Gnome Publications and editor of the Garden of Eden anthology, a digital-only anthology of speculative fiction set in the legendary garden. His fiction and poetry have appeared online and in print for more than 20 years.