Fish Food

I reached into the chip bag and ate a chip as I looked over my study notes. Nothing was being absorbed, I was tired, but I couldn't sleep yet. I needed to get this information crammed, or I was screwed on the exam tomorrow. I groaned, rubbing my forehead; the sound of a truck made me turn to the window. It sounds like one of those garbage trucks, but it wasn't garbage day? How strange.

I stood up, went to the window that overlooked the front house, and drew the curtains. Sure enough, an average garbage truck parked in front of the neighbor's house across from mine. A porch light was the only thing illuminating the neighbor's yard until the woman who owned the house came out with a flashlight. The flashlight aimed to show a wooden box half-open.

Maybe overnight service for the garbage truck was a thing? I continued to watch though feeling curious what was being done so late at night at nearly midnight. I was already bored all day, thanks to having to come early from my family vacation just cause I had a ton of stuff to cram. So I was alone all day with only my school notes and textbooks, and this was the only exciting thing to happen all day. A person came out of the driver's seat and walked behind the truck to the open bed.

The woman followed suit and climbed up, shining her flashlight down at the contents of the open bed. I expected to see trash, but instead, it looked like a fish carcass. I could just imagine the smell making me instinctively cover my nose. My family and I had only recently moved into the small town since my dad got fired, and we needed to downgrade houses. Unfortunately, the town was by a sea where fishing was a way they kept the town going. So I started smelling fish from my dad every time he came home from his job on the dock. 

Sweeping the flashlight around more, the light revealed even more fish carcasses. They all looked rotten, and it looked like there was even a large rotting shark as well. It made me feel sick just looking at it, but the two by the truck seemed totally fine as they climbed down. Our houses weren't too far apart since it was a small street, but I still couldn't make out their expressions. Since it was still too dark. 

The woman went to the large half-open box and aimed her light inside it. I couldn't see the contents inside, but my stomach was still churning, seeing how much dead fish were inside the garbage truck. I could only imagine that there was other dead fish inside the box since the driver picked it up and tossed it in the truck's bed over the contents already in it. No light was there to show me what was dumped, but I didn't want to know. 

I closed the curtain; an ominous feeling came over me as I tried to distract myself by going back to studying now. I could barely sleep, only passing out when the sun was peeking into my room. I felt my body shaking; I opened my eyes and saw my mom fervently shaking me awake from my deep sleep. 

"It's almost time for school to start, so wake up, Nia" I looked over at the clock on my wall, and sure enough, it was almost 8. I sat up and thanked her, quickly getting ready and running to school with my backpack half-open. The sickness I felt had disappeared since I woke up, but its memory still made me feel a bit anxious. It was hard to focus on school all day; luckily, the teachers chalked it up to me recently moving here and not being used to everything yet. Though I still went home with my head hung low since I was sure I bombed the exam. The closer I got to my home, the more I was sure I could smell rotting fish. 

I convinced myself everything I saw last night was just a bad dream from exhaustion, but the smell still made me sick. I went inside, escaping the aroma with a sigh as I leaned against the door. My body felt lethargic since I woke up, and all I wanted to do was lay down and do nothing for the rest of the day. 

"Honey, when your done changing, help me and your dad finish unpacking. Did you finish unpacking already?" I went into the living room, dropping my bag on the floor by the door.

"No, I just studied yesterday" my mother kind and reassuring smile brought me some relief.

"Well, let's finish unpacking today. Then I can make dinner; I am making some codfish with pasta salad tonight." I gagged, covering my mouth before I even realized it. Mom looked at me with a concerned look "are you okay? Are you feeling sick?" I shook my head, but the return of nausea said otherwise as I forced a smile.

"I am okay; just I ate something bad last night, I think." Mom walked up to me and felt my forehead with a tentative touch "hmm, well, you don't have a fever. Your stomach might need some time to settle, though. Don't force yourself to eat if you can't." I nodded, thankful that she was so understanding. I debated telling her what I dreamed about last night but stopped myself, preferring to just lay down right now.

"I am just gonna take a nap, then finish unpacking, mom." She nodded, pulling me into a hug "alright, honey. I am sorry you couldn't stay the last day of the trip." I shook my head and returned the hug; her warmth was enough to make me feel slightly better. 

"It's okay, mom. I asked to go home early anyway, so it was my decision." I had to prioritize school, or else I couldn't get a scholarship and pay for my own tuition in college. Mom sent me upstairs with a glass of water, and I sat down on my bed, untying my ponytail and flopping down on the bed. I didn't feel like I was tired enough to fall asleep, but I was sleeping on my stomach, sprawled out on my bed before I knew it. 

I found myself in the darkness; I struggled but found myself in an enclosed space as I began to scream for help. I could only hear footsteps and muffled voices as I called out for help. The steps got closer until the blackness above me revealed a bright light shining down on me. I cried tears of relief, trying to sit up and escape the suffocating darkness. But before I could, the light disappeared, and the darkness returned.

I think I cried myself to sleep because I was in my room the next moment I opened my eyes. It was dark, but my desk light illuminated my notebook and textbook. I looked around, seeing the same bag of chips I remembered eating last night. I rubbed my eyes and looked at my phone, seeing that it was last night's date. This was confusing, my head felt heavy, and I still felt that same sick feeling in my stomach. It must have been all a dream, a very detailed dream. I concluded that I fell asleep studying as the clock on the wall was only 10 till midnight. 

I attempted to focus on my work once again, but the familiar sound of a garbage truck made my heart beat fast. I rushed over to the window and opened the curtain seeing the same truck vaguely lit by the porch light of my neighbor's house. I stood there frozen as I watched the same thing unfold as what happened in my dream. I wrote it off as pure coincidence, or I was still dreaming and tried to sleep as what happened before. However, my next day proceeded as it did in my dream.

Except for this time, the vaguely sick feeling I felt stayed all day as I tried to act natural. When I fell asleep after coming back from school, I found myself experiencing the same dream. It was still as terrifying as before, and just like before. I woke up at my desk in the middle of the night, studying. Feeling even sicker this time. I could hardly think straight as I watched the same garbage truck pull up at midnight. I found myself in the same scenarios as before, seeing the exact same thing. I honestly lost count of how many times I experienced these moments. Every time I fell asleep, I woke up vomiting and just staying home at a certain point.

Until I could hardly leave my bed without nearly hurling all over my floor. Until one time, the same dream I experienced over and over again changed. I woke up at my desk holding my mouth, trying to suppress the urge to vomit as I had done many times on my desk before. I felt like I was going crazy; my head constantly felt fuzzy as I could only recall what happened in this never-ending dream now.

The sound of the garbage truck pulling up came again. I stumbled to the window and opened the curtain, looking on as I saw the familiar scene burn into my memories once again. When the light was shined onto the contents in the truck, however, instead of seeing rotting fish and sharks, I saw human bodies. I felt dizzy as I couldn't hold it back anymore, and the contents of my stomach spilled out onto the floor. I heaved heavy breaths as I continued looking on in shock at the sight of tons and tons of dead bodies all piled into the garbage truck. 

Was this hell? Did I die? Why was I seeing this now? I wanted out. I wanted to stop living this same damned time over and over again in this nightmare. I want to wake up! I cried in my head as I began to cry, breaking down as I continued to heave up stomach acid onto my floor. I don't remember passing out, but I woke up to that familiar dream in darkness. I must have really lost my mind cause I couldn't even remember the entire dream anymore. It was pitch black with muffled voices outside, only this time when the space was opened, I could clearly see the face of my neighbor hovering above me.

"This should be it; the rest of the town is cleared. He should be happy this year." What did that mean? I attempted to speak or even move, but as before, I couldn't do either.

"He better be; we managed to pull in as many as 100 this time around. I trust you to continue your good work on getting more people in town?" A man's gruff voice said.

"Of course, as I do every decade. It's my honor to gather the food for our lord." I must be dead. There was no other explanation. And if I wasn't, I wanted to wake up; I couldn't do this anymore. I screamed out in my mind, "please let me wake up!" The entire world went black again in the next instant, and I lost my consciousness with the words lingering in my mind "fish food."