Post Apocalytic Aquarium

Chapter 1 – A day at the aquarium

Sebastien sat at the counter. Gloomy, dark and grey as usual outside the aquarium. He lazily sat his two feet upon it as he gently leaned back in his old wooden chair. His only and best pair of brogues scuffed at the toe but still holding charm.

He looked down letting his neck go limp and his head lolled to the side. He could see Rise lying on his belly like a small child. He was sketching something onto the concrete floor with a sharpie pen. It made scratching noises every time the nib crossed the ground which Sebastian found oddly satisfying to listen too. It was very quiet on this particular day and the scratching was the only noise to be heard. Even Max, Sebastian's precious baby was fast asleep in his tattered cradle. He was hardly visible since he was tucked away to the right of him behind the counter. Sebastian liked to keep Max close; it made him feel calmer knowing he was safe.

“What are you drawing” Sebastian asked Rise in a weary tone sounding like he had just woken up. “Oh... um... I’m not that sure Seb. Erm some kind of man” Rise replied. He was slightly startled from being snapped out of his dream world. He was miles away and so caught up in his drawing he didn’t feel like he where even at the aquarium at all. “A man?” Sebastian queried with a slight raise of an eyebrow. He stroked his moustache as he looked up to the cracked ceiling. Rise wasn’t the only one with his head in the clouds today. “Well give him a moustache wont you” Seb said. Rise responded with a chuckle and a smile “will do boss”

Eventually Sebastian sat upright in his chair. He leaned over baby Max’s cradle and held onto his tiny feet which both fit perfectly into the palm of his left hand. He smiled warmly seeing Max’s little reaction to his touch. Max twitched a bit and stretched his delicate back against his little duck egg blue blanket. He yawned slowly; his movements looked so elegant and smooth. Seb was longing to be Max right now. Care free, innocent and most of all snug and warm.

It was cold in the aquarium. It was always cold. Windows were broken and messily boarded up with planks of splintered wood, the skylights were covered with debris, and any light that managed to squeeze through them shone into the aquarium only faintly highlighting the large amount of dust which floated idly around the air inside, potentially toxic.

One of the skylights where even smashed due to Ridley, the biggest fish in the aquarium, he managed projectile himself high into the air, smashing through the skylight to grab himself a juicy seagull. What a surprise Sebastian had waking up in the morning to hear the sickening crunch of splintering bird bones only to see them being chomped on by dear old Ridley. Ever since that day Seb would go out and kill birds anyway he could to feed Ridley, his creepy fish friend.

Ridley looked extremely ugly. To any sane person that is... Sebastian absolutely adored Ridley despite his horrifying appearance. He was big and white with a giant mouth that looked like a jagged messy, bloody wound, his teeth sharp pointy triangles protruding out of his mouth at different angles and his eyes where nowhere to be seen. His body long like a snake but wide like a crocodile. Seb wasn’t put off at all. It was strange how Seb wasn’t disturbed by Ridley but it may have been due to his eccentric nature.

Rise continued to draw on the cold ground adding more detail to this man he was drawing. Of course, he added a moustache just like Seb suggested. Rise looked up to Seb almost like he was an idol. He was compelled by him and admired him where as anyone else would see him as just a very strange, even crazy man. Rise loved people who had passions and Sebastian had a very strong passion for sea life, mainly fish. Seb was the one who opened and owned the aquarium after all.

Rise felt his brace buckles press into his stomach but continued to lie on the floor. Despite the floor being cold, hard and his buckles denting his skin he wasn’t bothered. Once he started drawing he wanted to get down whatever image was in his head before he forgot about it, so he would get his drawing done no matter the consequences.

Rise could hear Seb cooing to his baby Max who was now awake. He smiled to himself feeling smitten by Seb and Max’s love for one another. Rise was younger than Seb with a very active imagination. He enjoyed staying in the aquarium because all the unique and brightly coloured fish which all contributed to his creativity. He enjoyed drawing and painting, writing, poetry... Anything involving creativity.

Rise finally stood up brushing down his clothes from the dusty floor beneath him getting a good view of his new graffiti he’d decorated the floor with. He let his head hang down, his neck like a crane lowering himself for a better look at this strange drawing. He’d drawn a semi realistic looking man with a slight comical appearance, a big nose but a blank expression. He had glasses sitting on his face hiding his eyes, messy hair with a twig jutting out of it as if he’d just fallen into a bush, big ears and of course he also sported a big moustache that Seb would be proud of. Indeed he was.

Seb stroked Max’s small amount of hair feeling his smooth skull before walking over to Rise and putting a hand on his shoulder. He spluttered out a short laugh at his drawing. “I always love seeing the things that come from that brain of yours” He said bending down only a little to reach Rise’s height and see it from his perspective. Rise was flattered almost letting a blush rise to the surface of his face. He chuckled “Thanks Seb, I really don’t know how I come up with them.” He smiled giving his head a scratch through his mop of hair that he’d started to neglect, if his hair where any longer it may have even ended up looking like the cartoon’s hair that he’d conjured up. Seb patted him on the shoulder “Well however you do it don’t stop. Creativity is one of the best gifts” said the older man as he let his hand slide off his shoulder and fall limp at his side casually. “Well I don’t know what time it is but it’s getting dark. We must feed our little fishes” Seb sighed then gazed into one of the tanks placing his large hand on the glass gently giving a soft smile from the sight of his beloved sea creatures within.