Writing in slow motion - ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!

I don't get it. Too hard. Brain hurts.

A Fish Story in Slo-Mo (rough draft)

I don’t know how many times I have talked to him about his equipment. My husband is a “Weekend DJ.” His real job is Financial Auditor for a property management firm. A real geek job. On the weekends he turns into DJ Man. Weddings, parties, bar mitzvahs it doesn’t matter. As long as he can spin records and act goofy on the microphone he is in DJ Heaven. The problem is he has amassed an enormous amount of equipment. And by enormous, I don’t just mean a lot, all though there is a lot. I mean big. Big speakers, big amps, big audio consoles. The bigger the better. And wires. Miles and miles of wires connecting all these big pieces. He drags this stuff through the house plowing down anything in his path.

As I enjoy my coffee I see him at it again. His arms are full. He is carrying his 18" subwoofer, microphone stand, and various microphones, which are dangling from and his arms, dragging respective wires behind him. Directly in front of him, hidden from his obstructed view, our cat is sleeping, blissfully unaware of the disaster heading her way. I yell. He turns. Wires jumble around his feet. He stumbles.

He’s falling, falling.....Equipment in the air..... Thick as water.....Falling backward.....
Clutching speaker.....Black and shiny.....Hard edges.....And corners.....Heavy.....
Cat.....Squalling, scrambling.....Aquarium.....New, 100 gallons.....Speaker.....
Heavy.....Hard.....Aquarium.....New.....Shiny.....Fragile.....Full of water.....And fish.....
“Nooooooooooooooooooo!”
“Mreeeeeeeeooooooooooooooooow”
Speaker hanging in air.....Hanging.....Coming down.....Turning.....Aiming.....
Corner hard and aiming.....Contact.....Smashing.....Metal colliding with glass.....
Loud.....Cracking.....Radiating cracks.....Spreading on the glass.....Water gurgling.....
Bubbling through.....Arms and legs.....Speaker, microphones.....Falling.....Falling down.....
Smashing to the ground.....On top of wires..........Microphones rolling.....Across the floor.....
Water dripping.....
Drip.....Drip.....Drip.....Drip.....Drip…..
No motion.....
Drip.....Drip.....Drip.....Drip.....Drip…..
Earsplitting crack.....Glass exploding.....Water bursting out.....Rolling, boiling.....
Water mixed with shards of glass.....And fish.....Cascading.....A waterfall, white, orange.....
Fish.....Swimming to the floor.....Twisting.....Flopping.....To the floor.....And sinking.....
Sinking.....To the bottom of the aquarium.....Glass landing, fragments.....
Ringing, resonating.....Musical, piercing.....Landing on top of each other.....Splinters.....
Slivers flying.....Water splashing.....Droplets.....Dancing, floating.....Weightless.....
Clinging to air.....Tumbling, over and over.....Splashing to the ground.....
Splish.....Splish.....Splish.....Splish.....Splish…..
On the speaker.....The wires.....Arms and legs.....Fish everywhere.....Orange, shiny.....
Flopping, floundering.....Mouths opening and closing.....Opening and closing.....Water.....
Everywhere.....100 gallons.....Floors, walls, rugs.....Spreading.....Spreading out.....
Mixed with glass.....Under chairs, table.....Soaking into rugs.....Cat scared.....
Crouching in corner.....Scared and curious.....Eyes following orange movement.....
Tail flickering.....Fish flopping.....Cat creeping.....Water squishing.....Fish flopping.....
Water and glass all around.....I stand and stare.....Unable to move.....
Watching cat watching fish.....
Watching fish flopping everywhere.....
Watching water.....
Drip.....Drip.....Drip.....Drip…..
Watching fish.....Flopping inside aquarium.....Water and glass inside aquarium.....
Drip.....Drip.....Drip.....Drip…..
Onto the floor.....Onto the speaker.....Onto the microphones.....Onto the wires.....
Drip.....Drip.....Drip.....Drip…..
Onto my husband.....Lying in a heap.....Wires wrapped around his feet.....Drenched.....
Covered in glass…..

My husband! Movement returns to my feet. I run across the room, through water, fish and glass to my husband’s side. “Honey, honey, are you alright?” He looks dazed, but answers, “A 100 gallon aquarium just crashed down on me. No, I’m not alright.” He was alright. Just a few cuts and scratches. My attention quickly turns to the cat, who is sitting on the wet rug, a fish squirming in his mouth. I wrestle the fish from him, check for cuts and put him in the laundry room. I return to the kitchen, shaken and still in disbelief. My coffee is sitting on the table. I pick it up. It’s still steaming. Unable to process what just happened, I walk outside. I sit down with my coffee and stare at the trees in the yard. My husband comes out, already dressed in dry clothes. He bends over and kisses my cheek. “I’ll be right back” he says. “What? Where are you going?” I question him. “I hope you realize you have to clean up that mess.” He smiles. “I will, as soon as I get back. I have a dance tonight. I have to buy more equipment.”