the beekeeper.

ichthyophobia.

there was a fish.
it was massive.
i have ichthyophobia,
did you know that?
it's the fear of fish.
fish are scary.

i had a heart attack.
not figuratively,
it was so, so real.
left arm tingling,
excruciating pain in my chest,
shortness of breath.
i passed out, too.

and it was because of the fish.

i woke up in a hospital bed.
it was cold.
there was a needle in my chest.
i don't know why.
that's not where IVs go.
at least not in movies.
there was a needle in my chest,
and it hurt so bad.
i could feel it pinch and twist
as i stumbled down the hallway.
i couldn't walk straight.
i had had a heart attack.

i came to an elevator.
my friends were in it.
"what happened to you?"
"there was a fish."
"what happened to you?"
"it was a heart attack."
"no, be honest with us."
"it was a literal heart attack."
"oh dear. come with us."
i tried to step to the elevator.
suddenly, pain in my chest.
i dropped to the ground.
i had fallen right in the elevator's door.
it tried to close on me.
someone held it open.
everything went black.
it was a second heart attack.

a doctor woke me up.
i was laying on the ground.
"what is wrong with me?"
two, i counted.
"you have a condition.
you're guaranteed to have one more heart attack before it's all over."
it was all nonsense.
still, pain in my chest.
no needle this time, though.
"why? when?"
"it could be at home or it could be here."
she was very dodgy.
she looked like my eighth grade science teacher.
she was just as sarcastic, too.
mrs.hill was diagnosing me.
"it shouldn't be fatal.
you'll be fine.
one more, that's it.
then all of it will be as it was."

but she was wrong.
she made me laugh.
the laughing triggered it.
the happiness triggered it.
i couldn't breathe.
i fell to the floor.
my eyes went dark.

i never woke up.