The fish in the bowl was happy. To it, the bowl was the world. The fish in the bowl was safe. It did naught but eat and swim. I asked of the fish in the bowl. What would it do if the world were to come to an end? Perhaps, it would accept it and pass on in peace. Perhaps, it would resist until its final breath. Or, perhaps, it would be lost and unable to do anything at all.

The fish did not answer. It did not know what it meant for the world to end. Living day to day, it ate and swam. Free of worry. Free of thought. Until one day, it realized the water was slowly shrinking. Its world became smaller. To the fish, the water in the bowl was now the world. It became smaller, making the fish afraid. I thought that, maybe now, the fish could answer my question. But it did not do just one thing. The fish did many things. It became mad. It became sad. Standing in place. Slamming the glass. It did so many more things than eat and swim. But regardless of what the fish did, it did not matter. There was no meaning in what it did. But, at least for me... It was more interesting to see it like this. There was something sweet about how it struggled so. It was then that the fish found its voice and cried out.

Hearing its voice, I answered.

After all, I wanted to see it do many things. Many more things than eat and swim. I took the bowl. Held it close within my arms. Chip. Crack. Shatter. All it took to end a world was the softest squeeze. The fish fell. Through the darkness, it fell. Until at long last... Splash. A droplet against the water's surface. Ripples, radiating into the void. It made a pretty pattern. The fish rejoiced. It had been saved. It no longer had to fear the waning water. But as it looked around, it seemed confused. Something was wrong. Something was different that it could not describe. With uncertainty in its heart, the fish swam forth. Forward. Forward. It swam and swam. Swimming, until it could swim no longer. But no matter how much it pushed forward, doubled back, turned around... Nothing greeted it but a yawning abyss. When it realized the one truth it took comfort in was a lie, it showed me something nice. I laughed and told the fish: