Prompt 767

Imagine you are a goldfish trapped in a little fish bowl.  How do you get through the boredom of everyday life?

This summer break thing is killing me.  Apparently humans have a different schedule during summer than they do during…whatever is not summer.  So when I first got here I got to sit back in the castle and watch the tinier humans in the box.  They believe in a schedule.  There is a program named NEWS that comes on.  Then there is a program called Kelly Ripa that comes on.  Then humans wager against each other for a chance to spin a giant wheel for cash prizes.  I wouldn’t need this because I have a gold chest in my castle, but apparently this is not the norm for the humans.  Then a slight variation of NEWS comes on again.  Around that time the bowl gets a little warm but I just go in the castle for a rest.  When I wake up I watch the drama of human lives until Molly, my human comes home and tells me about her day and works on her home.  She’s awful at basic math.  I try to scream the answers out to her but there’s nothing that can be done from my vantage point on the inside of the castle.  I eat some flakes.  Every other day she cleans up my place.  We watch animated people do things (FYI, that SpongeBob is 100% accurate of underwater life).   And so on until lights out and repeat the day tomorrow.

But now that this summer is upon us my schedule is unpredictable.  The other day Molly took me into outside and made me watch her attempt to swim.  I thought that’s what she got me for, so she could learn the ways of the underwater world.  She hasn’t been paying much attention whatsoever.  She had these ridiculous covers on her eyes that were supposed to help her see underwater.  And she who they call M.O.M., which I assume stands for mean overbearing Molly, made her wear these devices on her fins that kept her from being fully submerged.  Complete exercise in futility.
And before that M.O.M and Molly were gone for what seemed like an eternity and left the male child as my charge.  He didn’t clean my bowl for eons and I got so sick I heard him talk about flushing me into The Toilet.

I used to hear stories of The Toilet.  They say that brings you back to the cradle of civilization to be disposed of properly; being eaten to pieces by your peers.  That’s just the way of the world.  But sometimes when our fallen make it back, they weren’t actually deceased, and were able to live life the way it was meant to be.  In the ocean.   At least that’s how the legends tell it.
And so that is my plan.  The get sent back to the ocean via toilet because I cannot take another day of this summer business.  And so I have taken a dangerous course of action.  I keep swimming to the top of my bowl to get Molly to give me the flakes.  If I hold them in, it will make it look like I’m extremely full and I’ve been practicing my floating technique and think if I time it correctly then I can make my way into The Toilet.  I’ve seen it done on the small box of humans.  A fallen brother made it down the toilet of Cosby and I plan to go the same route, except living.

Ah! Molly is in here.  I suck in deeply and make sure my stomach is protruding.  I catch a glimpse of myself in a marble.  I actually look kind of good at this weight.  Look how good my fins look! My shiny gold hue is finally back after that stupid male child had almost turned me brown.  For shame.  She has those damned buds in her ears and isn’t listening to me.  Her mating song sounds awful from in here and there is no way she is going to mate.  Ever.  Finally she tosses them down and starts to look in my direction.  This is it.  It’s show time.

I feel the vibrations ripple through the water as she yells that I have died.  Score.  I know M.O.M. voices little concern and I feel my bowl sloshing around as Molly lifts it up and we head towards the white light.  For a second I can’t breathe.  I open my eyes and see the stark whiteness of a place she cleans out my bowl.  Is this what they call the bathroom?!  Is the temporary home this close to the bathroom?  I have been this close to freedom every other day?!
But by the time I realize this and the air is quickly filling my lungs, killing me, I feel the sudden splash of cold water again.  The wooshing sound of the toilet is deafening.  And then there is darkness and I rejoice because I know I am headed home.