The Last Fish Standing

The cable guy's name was Marcus, and he wore a faded Brooklyn Dodgers hat that had seen better decades. Elaine had left him three weeks ago, taking everything except the goldfish and the cable box that now sat dead on the entertainment center.

"You got water getting in the line outside," Marcus said, testing the connection. His hands moved with practiced efficiency, knuckles scarred. "Storm damage. Your whole block's out until morning."

David sat on the edge of the sofa, nursing a whiskey that had gone watery with melted ice. He watched Marcus work, thinking about baseball games Elaine had made him attend, how she'd always bought the expensive hats she never wore. The goldfish — a carnival prize from their last attempt at pretending things were fine — circled its bowl in endless, pointless revolutions.

"You okay, man?" Marcus asked, not looking up from the wall plate.

"My wife left."

Marcus paused, a cable stripper in his hand. "That's rough. Mine left last year. Took the house, the dog, most of my dignity." He pulled a length of wire from the wall. "But you know what she couldn't take?"

David shook his head.

"This." Marcus gestured with his cable cutter. "I make my own hours now. No one to answer to but myself and these damn wires." He grinned, suddenly radiant. "It's terrifying and it's the best thing that ever happened to me."

Outside, rain hammered against the window. The goldfish surfaced, gulping air.

"Your fish needs fresh water," Marcus said, packing his tools. "Changed too infrequently, it'll die of its own waste. But change it too much, shock the system too hard, same result. trick is finding the balance."

He handed David a card. "I'll be back tomorrow to finish the job. You think about what kind of setup you really want. Not what she wanted. What YOU want."

David watched him walk through the rain to his truck, baseball hat pulled low. The apartment was silent except for the goldfish's gentle movements in the dark water. For the first time in weeks, David didn't feel like drowning.

He got up to find a clean bucket.