"You have ten minutes to check on your experiments and record observations in your journals," says Mr. Fischer. Thirty sixth-graders scatter about the science room. Justin trips over a chair placed in his path by Lisa and his glasses fly across the room. They survive gravity's pull and move into a long slide over the hard tile just as Keri puts her foot down on her way to the compost bin. Crunch!
Tracy and Joanne summon Mr. Fischer for help with their wilted pea plants. "Have you been watering?" asks Mr. Fischer. He takes a swig of his coffee and looks at the clock--thirty minutes to the bell, thirty agonizing minutes with a full bladder.
Freddy and Jeremy begin an all-out rubber band war in the opposite corner. Mr. Fischer is pulled into the conflict when a stray piece of rubber shrapnel hits him in the back. He turns around and calls a cease-fire just as Sherry drops a beaker full of water over by the sink. Just then, Mr. Fischer feels a tug on his shirt.
A short sixth-grader with an oversized head looks up with wide eyes. He starts to mumble and pulls Mr. Fischer over to the fish tank by the window.
"I think this fish is dead in here, Mr. F-F-F-Fischer," says Stevie. "It's laying on the bottom of the tank."
Mr. Fischer glances into the murky water and sees a whiskered guppy banked onto its side. A pregnant female is swimming several inches above it.
"Well, it looks like he left his mark," says Mr. Fischer.
"Huh?" asks Stevie.
"Oh, you're right, Stevie. We have a dead fish. Could you take it into the bathroom and flush it, please?"
"What?" asks Stevie. His wide eyes bulge at the corners and his jaw opens just a little.
"Well, the fish is dead. We need to dispose of it. Simply fish it out and take it to the bathroom," says Mr. Fischer. A rubber band bounces off the window above the fish tank and barely escapes drowning.
Stevie's cheeks flush a subtle red and he sways backwards a step.
"Uhhhh...w-w-w-well... Mr. Fischer? What will happen to the fish?" asks Stevie.
"It will go into the sewer system and decompose. I think it would be too smelly to throw in Keri's compost bin," says Mr. Fischer. A high-pitched scream causes him to turn his head. Julie's finger is topped with blood as she kneels over a wet floor helping Sherry pick up her broken beaker.
"But, Mr. Fischer," says Stevie. "How will it get there?"
"What's that, Stevie?" Mr. Fischer says as he turns around in a circle, like a hamster trying to escape its cage only to find out it's caught on a treadmill. "Listen, Stevie. You don't have to do it. I realize it's above and beyond the duty of a sixth grader."
"W-w-w-well, I..." says Stevie. Mr. Fischer is halfway over to the beaker wreckage.
Stevie looks down at the fish tank and stares into the murky water. The dead fish remains banked and motionless. The pregnant guppy has moved to the other side of the tank. Stevie stares a bit longer and finally gazes out the window. His eyes are solid glass and his lips are pursed. He looks back down toward the fish tank and the green fish net next to it. He grabs the wire handle and thrusts it into the water. The mesh catches the viscous liquid and the wire handle pulls loose. The net inflates while it sinks, sending it in a meandering spiral. Stevie stares at the drowned net. He turns around and grabs a chair from a desk. It screeches as he drags it in position below the fish tank. He climbs up onto the chair and reaches his hand into the water. His fingers flail through the turbidity until his armpit cradles the side of the tank. The white sleeve of his t-shirt soaks up some overspill as the water splashes over the top. The dead fish rides a wave until it crashes into Stevie's forearm. Stevie jerks his arm out of the water and shakes it in the air. He utters a few syllables of indecipherable sound. His lips press tighter and he plunges his arm back into the tank. This time, he grabs the green mesh and yanks it out, sending a tidal wave over the edge and onto the table. Stevie's eyes remain focused on the banked guppy in the tank. Meanwhile, the pregnant guppy surfs the tsunami onto a table top puddle, where its whiskers flicker. Stevie now has a firm grip on the wire handle and sweeps the net through the muck, focused singularly on the dead fish. Bulls eye. Stevie catches the fish squarely in the middle of the mesh. He pulls it out. The fish hangs silently in the wet mesh. Stevie walks across the classroom and out the door, a trail of drops follow the procession. Three minutes later, he returns, net empty.
Alex grabs the net from Stevie and starts swinging it at Tiffany. Stevie goes back to his desk and picks up his backpack. The bell rings and the school swims into the hall.
The hall swells with sixth graders and Mr. Fischer wades through the students and into the boys' bathroom. He takes his stance in front of the urinal and looks at the wall in front of him with a deep, longing sigh. He unzips his fly and glances down into the blue sieve of the urinal to see the dead guppy banked onto its side, staring up at him with long whiskers and wide eyes.