The Aquarium

A mother takes her daughter to the aquarium, but something nags at her. Something about those jellyfish.

“Look at the jellyfish, mum!”

Isa holds her daughter’s hand, and smiles. The jellyfish are a pale green-blue, like veins settled underneath the soft skin of one's wrist. They glow brightly in the dark water of their tank, and move sluggishly... smoothly. Not on their own.

They look like they could be human souls-- little balls of light that hold entire lives within single, intangible forms. It’s easily the most beautiful thing Isa has ever seen. Cleo seems to agree, her dark eyes luminous- reflecting the light from the display.

“Where are the penguins?” her daughter asks.

They’re in front of a giant tank, now. Isa doesn’t remember getting there, but Cleo has her face and tiny hands pressed against the glass, eyes wide. She watches the fish that pass by, some bigger than she is. A shark makes its way through in a quick dash. High up in the tank, a sea turtle blocks the light for a moment as it strolls lazily by.

Is it odd that they’re the only ones in the aquarium? Why didn't Isa notice that, before?

“Where’s my penguin?” Cleo asks. Her voice is impatient.

Isa blinks, and focuses her eyes on her daughter. She feels dizzy. “Your what?”

Cleo stares at her mother for a moment before darting off, running to the other side of the room, and disappearing into a dark tube in the wall. Isa shouts after her, and runs. The tube is small, and Isa has to crouch and crawl through.

“Cleo!”

Her lungs burn.

The tube ends as suddenly as it begins, and Isa is in a penguin observatory. Cleo is there, and she stares at the aquatic birds with a wide smile on her face, her brown eyes flickering with green-blue light. The penguins open their beaks as if to cry out, but they produce no noise. Maybe the glass is too thick?

The glass is too thick for her to break.

“Mum, my penguin! I dropped it! I can’t reach!”

Isa digs around the back of the car, trying to keep an eye on the road as her fingers fumble around the dirty floor, desperate to find the stuffed toy they'd just gotten from the aquarium. Cleo’s crying is loud and insistent-- she’s cranky and exhausted, and so is Isa. The rain won’t let up.

Finally, her fingers feel something soft. She grabs the penguin, and hands it to Cleo, looking back at her for a second before fixing her gaze back onto the road.

Isa’s in the wrong lane of the bridge, and the blaring of a horn meets her ears-- the flashing of bright headlights blinds her. She lets out a startled scream, and swerves the car back into her lane to avoid the truck just in time--

The bridge is slippery. There’s an impact, a weightlessness, and then a muting of all sound as they’re engulfed in a cold darkness. Somehow they’re still breathing. They’re still breathing, they’re still--

Her hands pound against glass until they bruise, and her shaking fingers tug at the door handle. Isa turns around to look at Cleo with wide eyes, and she reaches out and grabs her hand--

“Look at the jellyfish!”

Cleo’s hand is cold in Isa’s as they watch the jellyfish, and she smiles as the bright blue lights float gently before her. She thinks maybe she can touch them, now.

“Aren’t they pretty?” Cleo asks, and the jellyfish reflect in her unblinking eyes.

Isa tugs her daughter near. “They’re beautiful.”