Another body hit the floor. It was just me now. The house would finally be silent, and I could float in peace. I stuck my head above the water, the bottle of fallen over fish food calling out to me. I realized there was a flaw in my master plan--I jumped for it, no one would be there to put me back. The sound of a worried voice emanated somewhere nearby, “Marion? ‘Gold’ what, Marion? Marion, are you okay?”

The phone was disconnected from its mount and stapled to Marion’s wet hand that previously held me. “Marion, we are sending the police to your location.”

No, my head throbbed and I needed an idea, I need the food. It wasn’t too long until I heard the sound of screeching car tires and banging at the front door. “LAPD! Open up!”

I didn’t bother speaking, or any chance of surviving would be out the window. “Come on out with your hands up, or we will force entry!”

The house shook when the police rammed through the door. Two officers broke right and up the stairs, “We have three bodies up here, Stevens!”

Meanwhile, a female and a male officer forged through the living room towards me. “Come on out!”

The male officer reached for Marion’s neck and pressed two fingers against it. He turned to the female officer and shook his head. “We have arrived at the location, the caller has been killed,” then the female officer hung up the phone.

Showtime, I prayed they would notice and feed me. I jumped out of my tank, my bright orange fin catching my fall. This caught the female officer’s attention and she immediately ran to me. her bare hands scooped me up and put me back into the tank. “Careful, bud. You’ll hurt yourself.”

Her hands returned to her holster as she bounded through the kitchen. “What are we looking for, Stevens?”

“The woman couldn’t even utter the words before she hit the ground. All we got was ‘gold,’” the male cop responded. He turned to me, discovering me on the ground once more, easily scooping me up and returning me to the tank. He sprinkled some of my favorite fish food right after me. They were all so clueless.

“Goldfish,” the female officer’s body hit the floor. I would never forget the look of utter horror and realization imprinted on her dead face and in her blackened veins. Sucks she never got to feed me.