The Goldfish at the End of the World

The water in Emily's bathtub had grown cold hours ago, but she couldn't bring herself to pull the drain. She sat on the tiled floor, fully clothed, watching the ripples settle into something resembling stillness. On the bathroom counter, a small glass bowl contained one orange goldfish — the last living thing Mark had given her before he left.

"You look like me," she whispered to the fish, whose name she still couldn't remember. Something majestic? Regal? No matter. The goldfish just opened and closed its mouth, creating tiny bubbles that rose to the surface and burst.

Her phone buzzed on the sink. Third time this hour. Sarah from accounting, probably wanting to know why Emily hadn't submitted the quarterly reports. Or maybe her mother, calling with that careful voice people used when someone's husband had moved out three weeks ago and they hadn't heard from them since.

Emily pressed her fingers against her temple, where a headache had taken up permanent residence. She felt like a zombie — moving through motions, consuming nothing, existing but not alive. The metaphor wasn't even original.

On the floor beside her sat Mark's old fedora, the one he'd worn to their anniversary dinner. The one he'd forgotten in his rush to pack his things. She'd considered throwing it away, burning it, mailing it to him. Instead, she found herself wearing it sometimes, sitting in their — her — apartment, surrounded by boxes she hadn't bothered to unpack.

The goldfish swam to the surface and then down again, unconcerned with human heartbreak.

"You're better at this than I am," she told it.

Emily stood up, water dripping from her clothes onto the floor. She reached for the fishbowl, carried it to the kitchen window where sunlight had begun to stream through. The glass caught the light, creating rainbows across the counter.

Maybe tomorrow she'd go back to work. Maybe she'd call her mother back. Maybe she'd even remember the fish's name. But for now, she just stood there, watching a tiny orange creature swim in endless circles, and for the first time in weeks, she didn't feel quite so alone.