Danny looked around the room. The walls and ceiling were completely white. So was the floor. Surrounding him were dozens of fish tanks containing extraordinary fish he had only ever dreamed of seeing.
He’d been standing in the back room of the San Francisco Aquarium for nearly 20 minutes now. He checked his watch for the fifth time, and his eyes snagged onto the tip a deep cut barely sticking out from under his sleeve. He shuddered, and pulled his sleeve down. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and strolled around the room, looking at all of the fish in turn.

He looked at himself in the reflection of one of the tanks. Danny had shaggy brown hair and big ears and freckles sprinkled across his nose. He avoided his own eyes, and instead examined his hairline. Whenever he looked in his piercingly blue eyes, he couldn’t help but think that he was looking into hers, which were exactly the same. He didn’t like to think of her very much anymore. It hurt to much.
He gazed past the glass of the tank focused on the creature inside of it. It was a small fish, with rather big fins and big eyes. What caught Danny’s attention were its scales; they were such a curious shade of red. Staring at this fish as it waded about the tank struck a chord in his heart close to home. Something about this fish; something about that shade of red, more likely, was sickly familiar to him. Danny tore his eyes away from the tank and paced around the room fervently.
For nearly four months he had been able to shake this off- been able to shake her off. He had spent the last eleven weeks going on about his life as usual, pretending that nothing had changed, even though his entire world flipped upside down. And now everywhere he looked, he was reminded of that night. Of what happened. Of her. She seemed to follow him everywhere he went. “She’s gone,” he told himself out loud. “Katelyn is gone and you know that.”
Just as he spoke, Heather came in. She had a blue lab coat one and white rubber gloves. She wore her blonde hair in a tight bun and she had a welcoming smile. She looked withered as she peeled off her lab coat, revealing a beautiful red dress. She said hurriedly to Danny, “So sorry. I just had to help clean up a few things. Are you ready for our date?”
“No worries. I love looking at all of these beautiful fish. I’m ready whenever you are,” Danny replied smoothly. He felt a sharp pain in his chest. Somehow, even though months had past, he felt like it was unfaithful to go on a date with another woman. But he couldn’t die alone. He needed to have someone, and Katelyn, like he said, was gone.
Heather smiled at him again and said, “Great. I just need to sign a few papers and we’ll be out of here.” She lead him through the door and through the actual aquarium. Danny’s eyes loomed over the passing tanks full of curious creatures all around him. His eyes stopped at the tank full of Angelfish. He stopped and stood, rooted on the spot.
Right here, in front of the Angelfish tank, nearly a year before, Danny had been strolling around this aquarium and spotted a pair of blue eyes across the room. They were the most stunning eyes he had ever seen. She, herself, had been the most stunning thing he had ever seen. He walked over and leaned against the tank and said casually, “I know these are angelfish, but honestly, the only angel I see in here is you.”

He remembered her smile as she replied with a laugh, “You know, you’re not supposed to lean on the glass.”

Danny leaned in closer and said, “Yeah, I know. But there are a lot of rules I’d break for you, babe. What’s your name?”

He saw her eyes twinkle as she said, “I’m Katelyn.”
Danny’s feet wouldn’t budge. The words “I’m Katelyn” rung in his ears as he gazed at the spot they had met. He was shaken back to the present as Heather appeared in front of him looking concerned. “Are you alright?” She asked. “You seem a little bit… distant.”

Danny shook his head and said, “Oh, no I’m fine. I just can’t stop thinking about… er… that fish in the back room.”

Heather’s tired eyes lit up. Danny knew how much she loved fish. “Oh, which one was it?”

“It was, um, the red one. I don’t know what kind of fish it was.”

Heather said, “Oh, I know. You’re talking about Marty. He’s a European Redfin. He’s beautiful. Come on, I’ll show him to you up close.” She took his hand and dragged him to the back room, all the while saying, “I rescued Marty myself. He was struggling in the shallow water, which was strange because all Redfins are deep sea dwellers.”

She led him to the tank he had been staring at earlier. The fish bobbed around in his tank, unnoticing of them. As Heather rattled on and on about fish, not bothering to check if Danny was paying attention, he let his thoughts dive back into thinking about Katelyn.

Her blonde hair spilled down her shoulders and always smelled like lavender. She spoke with charm and had an easy laugh. Her smile was so genuine and beautiful that he got chills just reminiscing about them. She was the missing piece to his puzzle; without her the world didn’t quite look right.

They had been together nearly eight months when Danny decided to propose. They hadn’t been together long, but he knew that she was his one and only. He had rented a sailboat for their eight-month anniversary. He packed a picnic and hid a small diamond ring between two slices of bread. He was sure that it would be delightful.

The two lovers sat in the sailboat. The sky was clear and the light hit the water so that they could see the small fish wriggling around just below the surface. Katelyn sat across from him, smiling. She delicately sliced apples and put them on a small tray.
“Katelyn, I’ve been thinking about us, and our future,” He began. He had rehearsed what he wanted to say for hours. He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face. But she cut him off before he could start.
“I have too, and I have something to say.” She swallowed, “I’m pregnant.” Danny let go of the main sheet, and the sail when flying away from them. All thoughts of rings were far from his mind. Katelyn went on, “I want to run away with you. I’m sick of this town and I’m sick of this life. Let’s just go and start our lives over. Do you want to, Dan?”
Danny snapped back to reality and looked at Heather as she repeated, “So, do you want to, Dan?”
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. “Sorry, what was that?”
“Do you want to touch Marty? His scales are incredibly smooth.”
Danny blinked and said, “Um, yeah that’d be great.”

Heather slid a lab coat over his shoulders and white gloves over his hands as she said, “Now, be really gentle when you reach in. Marty is a really sweet fish, but like I was saying, European Redfins are known for having a vicious bite.”

Danny reached. He tried to tune out his memories, but they sat at the front of his thoughts, pushing everything else out of the way. He stroked Marty’s scales for a moment, but he moved to quickly, jabbing the fish in the side. There was a flash of red and Danny pulled his finger out of the tank, clutching it in pain. All he could see was the dazzling red of the fish’s scales next to the dark red of his own blood. He shut his eyes tight.

When he opened them again, he found himself sitting on the boat with Katelyn. She began furiously slicing apples faster and faster. She was saying, “What about the baby, Dan? Isn’t this important to you? Aren’t I important to you?”
Danny couldn’t look at her. He looked down at the water. He said, “Of course you are. But you have to think about everything we’ve been working for. I’ve got my internship lined up, and I’m going to get into the marine studies academy I’ve been dreaming about. I can’t just throw it all away for a kid.” He saw something in the water. A flash of red. It was the most hypnotizing red he had ever seen.
As he sat and ogled at the water, he heard a sob behind him. He looked at Katelyn. In her lap sat the loaf of bread, in her fingers sat the diamond ring. “Can’t throw it all away for a kid,” She repeated hollowly as she twirled the ring in her fingers, her hands shaking angrily. “So you want to marry me, but you don’t want our kid? You don’t even want our baby?”
Danny sat, frozen in shock. This wasn’t how he expected she would find the ring. This wasn’t how he imagined she would react. Her hand shook as she clutched the knife threateningly. She lept onto him and hissed, “Do I mean anything to you?”
Katelyn brought the knife down, aiming for his heart, but he moved quickly and she dragged it down his forearm, blood tripping from the tip of the knife. He thrashed and yelled, but they were in the middle of the ocean, not another was boat in sight. He pushed her off of him with so much force that she fell backwards, her head hitting the seat with a sickening crack.
Her eyes fluttered open, and then they were closed. Danny clutched her body, wailing, “Katelyn I’m so sorry!” He didn’t know what else to do, so he picked her up and gently tossed her limp body over the side of the boat. He watched her body sink until she was completely engulfed in water. As he wiped tears from his eyes, he saw the flash of red again. He realized now that it was merely a fish swimming by his boat. A European Redfin.