Goldfish Story – FYS 100

Marcus was a lonely goldfish, but a resourceful goldfish. He would swim in his

glass bowl in a circle all day playing whatever game he could imagine as he pondered his

round existence. One day as he circled he noticed a peculiar sight. He saw on the wall of

his bowl an oval that looked similar to his own. Even more peculiar was that in the oval

were four orange specks that appeared to move back and forth. He swam to the wall of

his bowl and stared, but it didn’t change or get easier to see. He swam to the top of the

bowl, but he still couldn’t get a good look. Marcus thought to himself that he’s never seen

anything as strange as this before. All he’s ever know is the dull white light that

surrounds his bowl, and the occasional plop of a food pellet hitting the top of his bowl

that signals time to eat. After a few restless hours of trying to catch a better look Marcus

grew frustrated. He said to himself, “I am going to circle this tank so fast that I slam into

the side and burst though.” With his plan formulated, Marcus began circling the tank as

fast as he could. He built up so much speed that he could only see streaks of orange fly

past him. He prepared to hit the wall when he noticed the inside of his bowl was doing

something funny. He noticed a torrent of hair was slowly forming in the center of his

bowl. He be began to slow down, but the current of the water started pulling him ever

along in the direction he was going. He had inadvertently created a whirlpool in his own

bowl. Marcus panicked as he was flipped upside down and tossed back and forth. He

started screaming, which he had never known he could do until this point an time. After a

few minutes the whirlpool ceased to spin an Marcus slowly floated to the top where he

was thankful for the world he was in to settle back to normal. He lounged lazily at the top

of the bowl as he collected his thoughts. He noticed something; there was a hole in the

top of his bowl! He began to think of what to do. He figured if he gathered enough speed,

Goldfish Story – FYS 100

but not too much, he did not want another vortex to pop up. He could leap from his bowl

into the other bowl as long as it had an opening too. He thought about this for a long

time, and after no luck of seeing an opening in the other bowl, he decided he would give

it a shot. He swam all the way to the bottom of his bowl and mustered his courage. He

took a deep gulp of water and started racing for the top. On his way to the top he had one

last second thought about this plan he had. He doesn’t even know what was over there.

He could be jumping to his doom. As he was pondering this in his mind he broke the

surface of the water with such force that a large amount of the water in his bowl came

with him. He was flying through the air, which was an odd thing for him since he has

lived his entire like in a tiny fish bowl. He was able to see the world around him. How

white and bright it was. Marcus wondered why his bowl is sitting in such a drab place

such as this. Marcus finally looked in the direction he was heading. To his delight there

was a hole in the top of the other bowl. He sailed right though the top of the hole and

down into the water. He was startled when he his and must have blacked out for a bit.

When he came to, four goldfish not much different than himself surrounded him. He

looked that them each in turn and introduced himself. None of them answered him. He

wondered why this was an announced again that he was Marcus and happy to meet them

and told his tale. The goldfish continued to look at him occasionally opening their

mouths, but only to take in and push out water. Slowly the fish turned an swam around

the bowl aimlessly. Marcus sighed and tried to talk to them in vain a few more times.

Marcus wondered if he was the only fish that could speak and think. He didn’t know he

was unique until this moment. Marcus took in his new bowl and figured he might enjoy

Goldfish Story – FYS 100

the company, even if they do not speak to him. Marcus was content that even though it

wasn’t the best company, he would no longer be lonely in his tiny goldfish bowl.