Goldfish in the Deep End

The office aquarium held three goldfish, though only two still moved. The third floated near the surface, glass-eyed and motionless, much like Arthur felt after three hours of his boss's presentation.

"We need to be bulls in this market," Jenkins had thundered, his forehead glistening. "Charge through obstacles. Don't just swim around them."

Arthur had almost laughed. Jenkins, who'd never charged anywhere except toward the buffet table, lecturing about bullish behavior. The irony tasted like stale coffee.

That evening, Arthur found himself at the pool, swimming laps when the facility should have been closed. The water had that perfect nighttime stillness, rippling only when he broke the surface. His wife, Sarah, had always loved watching him swim. Said it was the only time he looked peaceful.

Now she watched from the benches, wrapped in a towel that seemed too big for her frame. The chemotherapy had taken her hair first, then her appetite, then that sharp laugh that had once made him buy her that ridiculous goldfish necklace she never took off.

"You're thinking about Jenkins again," she said. It wasn't a question.

"He wants me to be more aggressive. More of a bull."

"You're not a bull, Arthur. You're the person who keeps buying new goldfish when the old ones die because someone has to."

He treaded water, watching her. "Maybe that's the problem."

"Maybe that's what made me marry you."

The pool lights flickered. In that moment, Arthur understood something about survival. Some things charged through life like bulls, smashing obstacles. Others simply kept swimming, circling the same glass walls, finding meaning in the motion itself.

"Tomorrow," he said, splashing toward her, "I'll quit."

"Good." She smiled, and for a moment, the Sarah he knew returned. "Then we can buy goldfish that don't come from an office aquarium."

He pulled himself from the pool, water streaming from his hair, feeling lighter than he had in months. Some bulls charged, some fish floated, and some people simply learned to swim in whatever water they found themselves in.