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Venus and the Silent Bond: When Love Stopped the World

Venus and the Silent Bond: When Love Stopped the World

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Venus and the Silent Bond

Explore the haunting tale of Venus and Phoebus, a groundbreaking interspecies communication experiment that spiraled into ethical turmoil, leaving an indelible scar on one woman’s conscience.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)

It was on a cheerful Sunday in Spring, Venus walked inside the City Aquarium with her 5-year-old granddaughter Dione. The place teemed with visitors of varying age groups and the occasional squeals of tender voices heightened the pulsations of the blue-tinted halls glowing with wonder. Venus grasped Dione’s soft, plump hands as they wandered through the exhibits. The little girl’s eyes twinkled when they reached the dolphin tank. She pressed her face to the glass, pointing at the graceful creatures gliding through the water.

“Grandma, look! Aren’t they beautiful?” her voice tingling with excitement to see the huge creatures do acrobatic movements in the water. A sudden rush of submerged memories bubbled up from the deep dark crevices of her mind and Venus stood frozen in her tracks. And as a huge wave of memory crashed on the shore of her mind, the glass walls of the aquarium seemed to disappear, and Venus was 23 again, found herself standing in the dim, damp corridors of the experimental house that had once been her world listening to Phoebus’s whistle as he gyrated through the water in a circular motion around her.

She could see his intelligent eyes, feel his eager presence, and hear the voices of her superiors, Dr. Adrian Wescott and Celeste Harper, their enthusiasm fuelling the ambitious project under ASTRA—a clandestine organization dedicated to bridging the gap between human and animal communication. The house had been specially designed, so that Phoebus and Venus could cohabit for weeks on end. Their revolutionary research was to establish an interspecies communication.

The initial phase of their experiment proved promising as the dolphin could produce sounds that mimicked Venus’ voice. It was a breakthrough, a glimpse of what seemed to be an incredible future. However, things suddenly began to digress. The bard of Avon, Venus thought, had so aptly said, “…but man, proud man,
Dress’d in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he’s most assur’d—
His glassy essence—……
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As makes the angels weep…”

The experiment suddenly started taking a different twist. The researchers instructed Venus to ‘touch’ the dolphin in order to stimulate him in an intimate manner. And it was then Phoebus began displaying strange behaviour. Venus could sense that Phoebus was getting obsessed with her and would frequently rub his body against her and show ‘other intentions’ in his behaviour. He evidently expressed a desire to bond more ‘intimately’ with Venus. Every gesture of Phoebus silently screamed that he was nose deep in love with Venus. The researchers urged Eleanor to indulge his needs, rationalizing it as necessary for the experiment. Trapped by duty and fear, she complied, each act leaving her more guilt-ridden than the last.

Soon, the experiment spiralled into controversy. Whispers of abuse reached the outside world, and therefore ASTRA was confronted with a deluge of public outrage. Under pressure, the project was abruptly terminated. One fine Spring morning Venus had to part from Phoebus. With tears welling up in her eyes she stood near the entrance of their watery abode and watched as he was shipped to a sterile tank in an aquarium. She could still recall his wide, intelligent eyes staring at her as they said goodbye in silence.

In his new watery chamber, Phoebus would swim up to the surface and press his nose against the glass wall, his eyes searching for Venus and his body craving for her touch. Days passed by and on one Sunday morning, as Venus sat sipping her coffee, the telephone rang. ‘Venus, it’s Dr. Adrian Harper, I have an information for you.’ Before she could respond Dr Adrian said in a dispassionate tone,’ Phoebus is dead.’ Without waiting for Venus’ reply he disconnected the call. Dumb founded, Venus stood petrified, she doesn’t know for how long. On regaining her composure she dashed out of her room, headed for her car and drove straight to the aquarium where Phoebus was sent back. When she reached the spot, it was too late, his body was disposed and a few words of apology that lurked around Venus’ lips drowned in silence. There were no tears.

One of the keepers told her that after his arrival, Phoebus would remain at the water surface for long hours as if he was waiting for someone and then a couple of days back, he went to the bottom of the tank and did not surface. It was in the wee hours in the morning that day they found him floating on the surface. Initially the keeper thought that he has surfaced to breathe but soon realised he had passed away….

‘Grand ma, are you okay?’ Dione’s scared voice shattered the glass of memory. Venus could not stand there anymore. She grabbed the little girl’s hand and almost dragged her out of the room. ‘What happened Grand ma?’ Dione’s voice sounded fragile. ‘We are leaving’, Venus whispered, in a desperate attempt to muffle the sobs that longed to be let free. “But why? I love dolphins! I want to stay!” Dione protested, dragging her feet.

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Venus’ voice broke. “They don’t belong here, baby. They never did.”

As they walked away, Venus looked back one last time. The dolphins swam in loops, their beauty tainted by the weight of her memory. She whispered, barely audible, “I’m sorry, Phoebus.”

That night, after the enter house lay in the arms of sleep, Venus, sat at her study table and decided to break the silence that rested in nooks of oblivion. She picked up her note pad and penned her first line’ ‘Love cannot be genetically transmitted….’ In the quietude of the neighbourhood some insomniac was listening to the Sounds of Silence….and the lines wafted through the stillness of the night….’ Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.’

Inspired by a true story.

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