Image from Pixabay.com.

An Incident At The Home For The Criminally Stupid

Dr.* Alberto Fizshiz’s basement laboratory was unimpressive. Flasks lined a top shelf along with a few retro board games and a miniature silver Christmas tree. A desk made from plywood on saw horses, held an hour glass, notebook, and a candle. The only exception to the mundane appearance of his workspace was a brilliantly illuminated one hundred gallon fish tank built into a far wall and an enclosed shower stall (with a starfish curtain) attached to the tank with jumper cables.
That wall, opened directly into the Gulf of Mexico at high tide, with a cleverly disguised, and ingeniously engineered, watertight hatch purchased in a flash deal on Amazon.
Carl waved, one of his eight arms, from inside the tank. The doctor didn’t acknowledge the cephalopod’s gesture because the last moments of a 2 week experiment were taking place. He was about to place his consciousness into an octopus! *
“Bwah ha ha!”
He turned the hour glass for a countdown.
Then, undressed and climbed into the shower.
Sparks flew as he activated the battery station.
As the final grains of sand slipped down…
KA-BOOM!!! Crack! whooshhhh.
The notebook which held all his ideas, and hopes, and dreams, and 2 weeks of notes, now served as a pedestal for what was left of Fizshiz. His skull.

Just before the hatchway opened, a “slap”, “slap”, “slap”, crossed the cement floor. Then a saltwater dripping tentacle snuffed out the candle.
In total darkness, a hatchway decompressed and the sound of waves filled the room.
Carl was finally free!

* The Dr. title was acquired online
*an octopus has a lifespan of 6 months

Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #107 – This, That, and The Other (fivedotoh.com)


Written for Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #107,