Hard to Swallow.

"Mum, I'm back! What's for dinner?" 

"How was today's field trip, sweetie?" She asks, irritatingly changing the subject. 

"We went to the aquarium," I say. 

"Well?" 

"It was fun, I guess. I mean, at least we got to spend the day not doing schoolwork." 

"And? What happened?" 

"We saw all the Ocean Things. There were tiny ones and some were big and bloated." 

"That's nice, dear." 

"Mum, where's my food?" 

"Here, sweetie." 

She walks in from the kitchen with a bowl of soup. The second I see its contents I'm suddenly not hungry. 

"Seafood soup?!" I ask, trying to hide the repulsion in my voice. In the bowl in front of me, a bunch of Ocean Things lurk beneath the cloudy water. I look at my mum's wide round eyes. 

I don't want to eat it, but refusing to would hurt her.  

I also don't have anything else to eat tonight. 

I dip my spoon in, trying not to look at its contents. There's no escaping the taste, though. The plastic catches in my teeth and the oil makes me want to be sick.  

"What did you see at the aquarium today, sweetie?" She asks. 

Grateful for the distraction, I answer her through a mouthful of Carrier Bag. 

"We saw the Bottles. They were green and had long necks." 

She nods. 

"And we saw..." I cough as I try, and fail, to dull down the metal edges of a Can by chewing. "We saw lots of Bags. And Cans." 

It hurts when I swallow. I think the Ocean Thing cut me as it went down. 

"And some looked like sticks, but had strange things on their ends." 

"Those are called Cotton Buds, sweetie." She says. 

"Mm." I reply as I place something round and hard in my mouth.  

"When I was your age," She starts, "The Ocean Things were different. They were called Fish." 

"Fish? That's a strange name."  

"Yes, sweetie. And they were alive, just like you and me. Some were big, like Sharks and Dolphins, and some were tiny, like Shrimps." 

"How can plastic be alive? " I ask. 

"That's the thing, sweetie. Fish were not plastic at all!" 

"Right." 

"Our generation put the plastic there. Oh, and be careful on that Bottle Lid you just swallowed, sweetie." 

"I - " The plastic sticks in my throat. I can't cough it out.  

I can't breathe. 

My mum tries to help me, desperately tapping my back to get it out, but nothing happens. I feel dizzy.  

"Stay with me, sweetie, I'm going to get help!" She runs over to the phone and picks it up. She dials, but nothing happens. 

"I can't get a signal!" She looks at me. "Oh, sweetie..." 

I fall to the floor, coughing. Blood and oil stains the soft carpet, but I can't get any air into my lungs. 

My whole body feels heavy...

"I'm going out to get help, sweetie." 

... and I just want to sleep ... 

"Sweetie..." 

... alongside the Fish. 

And I do.