The aquarium

Crimson waters

The tranquil water glistens in the light, it is stiller than a peaceful picture on a calm mantelpiece. The water is full of exotic tropical fish of varying size with colours  of yellow and blue and red and green. The water is so still, almost waiting to be disturbed as in a few erratic moments it would be.

Barry Chalkman was in his late fifties. He had grey-ish hair , a short-ish beard and brown-ish eyes. When he took on the job as a janitor for the Sheffield aquarium he was alone, he felt barren and desolate but after months into the job he felt cheerful and cherished his position as it gave him tiny amounts of purpose, it gave him something to do instead of sitting around and occasionally slashing his wrinkly wrists.

The coral swayed side to side like a hippie at a festival, the pastel pink of it contrasted the green vegetation that clinged onto the surface of the mossy rock. The fish circled the coral like a group of bullies around a weak child.

Barry's previous job was a janitor at the local school but it ended abruptly. He was walking down the corridor after school had finished when he heard laughing coming from the girls bathroom. Nobody was meant to be in school so Barry innocently ambled to investigate. That was when he was when he walked in on something he wished he'd never seen.

The tranquil water began to shake as chaos erupted between two dark figures on the metal grate shore. The coral sped up in its swaying now like a metalhead at a heavy metal concert deep into the frantic frenzy of the mosh pit. Splash.

Barry had entered the room just as two of the female students had began sexual contact, as their delicate skin touched they turned and saw the him in the doorframe, all of them had a look of shock slapped onto their faces. As the girls were not out of the closet they suppressed their homosexuality and claimed he had touched them. His life was ruined, even though they had no proof so he served no jail time, he was fired and forced to take his cleaning utensils elsewhere.

As one of the figures dropped into the tank his the water went red as his bloody carcass tinted the water, despite the crimson blood seeping into it the water calmed down, the coral was very still with occasional movement like an established man watching a humongous classical orchestra and acting unimpressed whilst sipping expensive wine.

Suddenly the other figure pierces the water causing it to become fully dyed, this meant the you could no longer see Barry Chalkman's grey-ish hair and brown-ish eyes because a cloud of red had hidden him. The carnivorous fish zipped through the water like the blood was a powerful magnet yanking them in. The red cloud slowly blended through the whole tank. The aquarium was closed.