Goldfish Glory

The carnival lights blurred into streaks of neon pink and electric blue as Maya stumbled away from the group, her iPhone clutched in one hand, the other nervously twisting a strand of her newly-dyed purple hair. Three hours at the bathroom sink with a box dye she'd bought with babysitting money, and Jason hadn't even noticed.

"Whatever," she muttered, sinking onto a bench near the quiet edge of the carnival grounds. Her phone screen glowed with unanswered texts from her friends—where r u?? u ok??—but she couldn't deal with their fake concern right now.

That's when she saw it: a tiny, isolated booth with goldfish in plastic bags, their orange bodies glowing under the string lights. The carnie running it looked as bored as Maya felt.

"Three throws for five dollars, sweetheart. Win someone a prize."

Maya looked at the goldfish, then at her hair in the black mirror of her phone screen. Purple hair, purple bruises on her heart from trying so hard to be someone she wasn't. Something snapped.

"Yeah," she said, digging a crumpled five-dollar bill from her pocket. "I'll play."

First throw: missed. Second throw: bounced off the rim. Third throw: the ball spiraled through the air and—plunk—sank into the bucket.

The carnie's eyebrows shot up. "Well, I'll be." He handed her a plastic bag with a tiny goldfish swimming inside, its fins delicate as tissue paper.

"What's his name?" the carnie asked.

Maya studied the fish, then caught sight of her purple hair again. "Glory," she said. "Short for Glorious Disaster."

Her iPhone buzzed with an incoming FaceTime from Jason. She stared at his name on the screen, the fish swimming beside her, her purple hair falling over her eyes. Something had shifted.

She declined the call.

Then she opened her camera, aimed it at her reflection with the goldfish bag visible, and snapped a photo. Purple hair. Goldfish. No filter needed.

Caption: "New me. New era. Meet Glory."

As she hit post, Maya realized she wasn't waiting for Jason to notice her anymore. She was too busy noticing herself.