Six O'Clock

“Sixoclockbook.” Hugging the Coast: A Celebration of Coastal Food and Travel, huggingthecoast.com/2009/04/09/read-a-cookbook-for-free-the-six-oclock-breakfasts-cookbook/. 

   Another day, another hour, another minute. I’m desperately watching the clock, waiting for it to strike six. I’ve had enough days filled with this boredom; they’re endless. No one even pays attention to me. I just sit in the corner by myself, watching people walk past me back and forth. Sometimes, they forget my existence, which gets into my head and stays there for days. I feel isolated, like I don’t belong. Why am I even here? Is this my life long prison?

    At times however, I hear a “tap tap tap.” I like to believe they do this to make sure I’m still alive, and somehow, I’m still breathing. I get so frustrated I sink to the bottom swaddled in my depressed thoughts. On some days they move me into a temporary holding pen while they wash my other place. It never gets too dirty though; there’s really nothing in here except for me; not even a friend or a plant, it’s just me. After every one of my tears is scrubbed off of my regular cell they put me back to my natural environment. Since everything becomes so clear I get to stare at my reflection. It’s the only kind of entertainment I find around here. Finally the time came; I watch the boy slowly get out of his seat, and with his eyes still on the computer screen, he reaches for a little round box sitting on a shelf above his bed. He shakes it, then twists it and finally opens it. While starting to walk towards me I get up and start moving, pacing, taking up all the tiny area I have as fast as I can. Afterall I can’t help it; it’s happy time! I get this rush of happiness that makes me so energetic I have to let it out. It’s exactly 6 o'clock, and the boy puts the box above and tilts it towards me. Little pieces of heaven start falling. As soon as one lands I swim for it and eat it with a big gulp, another one flakes the water, another one, another one, and another one. The boy closes the box and puts it back on the shelf. Well, I guess that is that for today. Happy time is over.

    I live in a crystal clear tank with only my reflection there as a source of entertainment. Depressing I know, yet I stay alive. I turn the littlest things around to create moments of sheer happiness that keep me going. Moments like when the clock strikes six and I get fed. I might live a gloomy life but inside I stay bright.