THE GOLDFISH BOWL

          "Change is the only constant thing," said Einstein. So, I accepted the change, the change in things in our relationship. Love is all that matters right? It's been 3 weeks without sex, yeah! That happens sometimes. I planned a dinner date; I knew how to make him happy. But my periods got earlier this month, cramps were not heavy, but my back was hurting quite a lot. I was waiting for him to come home, to whine like a baby. Finally, he came "Hi bebe" I greeted him with a kiss, "Hey love" he replied kissing me back. "Sorry, 5 more days," I whispered to him. "Don't be sorry! it's okay," he said with a smile. An unfamiliar smile. I didn't recognize that smile, it was a stranger to me. We ate dinner watching TV, and we headed to bed, after a few tap-taps on the phone and a few twists and turns he fell asleep. A night where we were supposed to be awake for a few more hours ended early. 

         I turned to the opposite side; I saw the goldfish bowl that he had gifted me on our second date. Five years she survived, and according to the internet she has more years to live. But I knew something was wrong with her, and she would die sooner, way sooner. 

        I couldn't sleep, I was still gazing at the fish. She was restless, and I don't know how, but I was feeling the same. I was feeling exactly the same, It wasn't similar, it was the same. I turned my side, and his back was breathing on my face. I felt a knot in my throat, like a giant python wrapped all around my body, trying hard to crush my bones, to choke me. Breathing was so hard. I desperately needed some oxygen, it keeps you alive, you need oxygen, so with a great struggle, I breathed an amount of air. 

        I got up all wrapped in pain, pain in my back, pain in my heart, pain in my brain, pain in my thoughts. I packed a few things, clothes, money, brushes, underpants, things like that. Picked up my goldfish bowl and walked to the door. I turned to the house, 'Oh walls, did you ever love me?' I asked. My eyes pooled with water. I walked out and kept walking, walked more, and kept walking, I didn't know what else to do. I felt weak, so I stopped walking. The bowl slipped off my hand. My goldfish bowl broke. 'Did I kill you? or was it just an accident?' I asked the dying, No! the struggling-to-live fish. She died soon; sooner than I had thought she would.