Indie Ink: For the love of guppies

Jessica bent down to look in the tanks along the floor. Bright colored fish darted back and forth, zipping in and out amongst the clumps of anemone. She placed a finger on the glass and grinned as the small school paused to investigate.

“TJ,” she called. “Can we get some of these fish?” TJ looked up from the selection of tanks displayed near the front of the store. He walked over and read the writing on the side of the tank.

“It says these fish need salt water, Jess.” He helped her up. “I’m not ready to do a salt water tank. Let’s just stick to tropical, okay?”

Jess sighed and waved goodbye to the fish. “Okay. So what fish can we buy?”

She followed TJ to another section of tanks with a variety of fish swimming about. He read over the names written on the glass. “Most of these would be okay. We need to make sure none of them get too big for the tank.”

TJ spoke to a sullen young man slumped over the front counter. “Excuse me, could you help us out?” The kid looked over and grunted, then shuffled slowly towards them.

“Yeah? You know what fish ya want?”

TJ consulted his list of fish names and scanned the tanks. He pointed out a few. “Will these be okay together?”

The kid shrugged. “Yeah, I think so.” TJ took a deep breath, sucking back a retort. He didn’t want to make a scene.

“Alright, could I get ten of the red mollies, five of the blue tailed ones, ten fancy guppies…” he paused as the kid began scooping fish out. Jessica watched with interest before wandering down the aisle and checking out other tanks. She stopped in front of one at the end.

“TJ,” she beckoned. “Come over here. What about this fish? He looks lonely.”

TJ left the kid with the guppy tank and joined her. A solitary silver fish, no bigger than a quarter, swam lazily about the tank. His scales almost glittered and the tips of his fins were bright red. He was beautiful to watch.

TJ pursed his lips. “Hey,” he said to the kid. “Can this fish go with the other ones I bought?” The kid ambled over, his arms laden with three plastic bags filled with water and fish. He read the side of the tank where the fish’s name and price was written.

“It says this is a silver dollar. They’re fine with these usually but they can get big. Make sure you have a good sized tank.”

“It’s a forty gallon,” TJ reassured him. The kid nodded and grabbed a net to scoop out the solitary fish. The bag was passed over to Jessica who held it up to observe her new pet.

“I think I’ll call him George Lucas,” she announced. TJ barked a laugh.

“That guy who did Star Wars? Why?”

“Cause he’s glittery, like a star. And he’s the color of Lucas’ beard,” Jessica said defensively. TJ just shrugged and followed the kid up to the front to pay.

~~~

A few weeks later TJ found Jessica perched in front of the tank her mouth moving soundlessly. She brought a finger up and touched it to the glass a number of times.

“What are you doing?” he asked. Jessica turned with a start.

“Oh! Hi, I didn’t hear you come home.” She turned back to the tank and a crease formed between her brows. “I’m counting,” she said, answering his question. “I swear there are fewer fish but it’s hard to tell. They keep swimming around.”

Her eyes lit up as George Lucas appeared from behind a rack. TJ shook his head at Jessica’s love for that creature. She wiggled a finger at the sleek silver fish.

“He’s gotten bigger already, don’t you think?”

TJ took a closer look at George. He frowned. The fish did look much larger, almost double the size from when they got him.

“What are you feeding him?” He asked. She grabbed a bottle of flake food off the top of the tank.

“Just this stuff. Same as I’m feeling the other fish.”

TJ shrugged. “Maybe he’s eating more of it than the rest of them.” He watched George loop around the tank and head back towards the school of mollies and fancy guppies. The fish scattered upon his approach and TJ saw George veer off and follow one of the smaller guppies into a clump of plants.

“Oh crap,” he said. Jessica glanced over at him, her eyes questioning. “Grab a net, Jess. I think George Lucas has developed a taste for guppy!”

~*~*~

For the IndieInk Writing Challenge this week, Mediocre Wayne challenged me with “George Lucas has gone insane and must be stopped.” and I challenged Eliza M. Green with “I had committed a cardinal sin of celebration…I had regifted”

Blogger’s Note: When I was trying to write this piece I was a little stumped. I didn’t want to do an obvious George Lucas/Star Wars kind of story. My husband asked what my prompt was and when I told him we did a bit of bouncing ideas off each other. Then he grabbed my laptop and wrote something within 5 minutes. His little story influenced mine above. For your reading pleasure, I’m posting it below

As always, concrite welcome.

*****

Joel stood perched beside the old, gray tree with twisted branches. As a child he spent carefree days swinging from its branches, talking with Gordon about the girls they would date and maybe even eventually marry. The intergalactic-3-planet war came and Gordon got drafted; he never did get to have a bride. As a child he loved Princess Leia, as all warm-blooded American boys did. In memory of his friend, Joel named his most beloved pet after the creator of his best friend’s love.

George Lucas floated almost lifelessly in his jar. His mouth opened and closed in a steady rhythm. Joel rubbed the side of the jar and whispered softly, “Soon, my friend. Very soon”.

The fingers of moonlight finally stretched through the branches and gripped Joel’s face. He looked down at George and smiled.

The time for killing had come.