Her name was Yasmin and she sold fish. 

Every day, from early morning until afternoon, she worked at the fish stand in a supermarket, somewhere in Brisbane, Australia. She cut and weighted the fish all day, handing it over to the people, smiling. Yasmin had to be polite to the customers, which wasn't that hard because most of them were not obnoxious. But sometimes, there were real idiots among the customers, who made her day miserable. Yasmin had to be polite to those too, because she might get fired if she answered them in kind. So she stayed nice. 

While working, Yasmin was dressed in a dark blue overall with the drawing of a winking and smiling fish on it (licking its lips as well), wore an equally dark blue hat and transparent, thin plastic gloves. And a button saying "I love to serve you". 

Yasmin didn't love to serve them.

She hated her job.

The 25-year-old pretty blonde thought she looked dumb in the outfit. Sometimes, before work, she would look at herself in the mirror, wearing her outfit, and laugh. Laugh at her own reflection, at the dark blue outfit, with the name of the supermarket on it, just below the dumb drawing of the smiling and winking and licking fish. And at the button saying "I love to serve you". 

Sometimes, she was ashamed of herself. She thought everybody would consider her dumb because of her outfit. Dumb, because the only thing she could do was selling fish. 

But Yasmin wasn't dumb. She merely didn't want to continue whatever education came after high school, and went straight to work. Ending in the supermarket. Selling fish.

But right now, she wasn't in the mood for laughing or being ashamed. She wasn't even selling fish. As a matter of fact, Yasmin wasn't even in Australia. 

She was in Japan. 

The reason was that her boyfriend, the 26-year old Michael, confessed that he had been seeing somebody else. Well, more than just seeing actually.

After learning this, she was so upset she had to leave for a while. Although her job didn't pay well, Yasmin had saved money to pay for a cheap flight to Japan, where she planned to stay for a week. Away from everything. Away from Michael. Away from Australia. Away from the dark blue outfit. And away from the fish.

Well, they eat a lot of fish in Japan, but at least Yasmin didn't have to sell any.

Yasmin wandered through Tokyo for about three days, but she didn't find the peace she sought. The city was full of colorful flashing lights and neon lamps, advertising to enter all kinds of cheerful shops, bars, stores and casino's, which wasn't something Yasmin could appreciate at the moment. She wanted peace. Peace of mind, to make things clear for herself and digest her breakup, rethink her life, her job and perhaps get some wisdom. This couldn't be found in this crowded metropolis, where very store seemed to radiate that life was good and that one had to be cheerful and happy.

So after those three days, Yasmin decided to make a trip to the countryside. With train and bus she ventured into the mountainous area of inner Japan, and got off where she thought the landscape was desolated and tranquil. Memorizing the place where the bus stop was, Yasmin walked aimlessly into the mountains. Somewhere, she might find a place, like she sometimes saw on TV about the country, where monks sat meditating or nature was rather untouched. There, she could find some rest and peace.

After an hour or so, she got the feeling she was near the place. Yasmin didn't know where it came from, but she felt it was "right" as she walked towards a small waterfall, splashing into a pond. There was no one else in the area, and Yasmin sat down, staring into the water and let her thoughts wander.

She thought of Michael, and felt anger and humiliation boiling up. She thought of her life as an employee in the supermarket, and felt embarrassment. And she felt sadness, the sadness of a life wasted. She thought of the future, and didn't know what to do with it. 

Yasmin saw the sun glittering in the waters, heard the sound of the waterfall, and wanted somehow to be blinded by the light and deafened by the sound. Never to see or hear to feel anything again. She dozed slowly off.

She was taken back to reality as the waters suddenly became wild.