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THE ZOMBIE FISH.
"What did you do to my fish?" A seemingly overwhelmed Steven cried out as he burst into the Price residence at 5pm on a Sunday.
Penny froze from her spot in front of the tv, pausing Judge Judy and slowly turning toward the man in her doorway. He was holding a cup and occupying the small dish was a goldfish.
"Oh my goodness." She jumped up, running toward Steven and snatching the cup out of his hand, closely inspecting the zombie fish. "It's a miracle! The praying worked!"
"Excuse me?"
"Aren't you happy? Gus is alive! I have no reason to feel guilty anymore. I told myself he was just napping, I must have like some kind of intuition or something cool like that! This is great-" The teenage girl rambled on, swishing the cup gently to make sure he was really moving.
"What are you talking about? Don't you see the fins?" Steven's eyebrows furrowed.
Penelope froze again, taking a closer look at the miracle fish. "Huh." She chuckled.
"'Huh'?" Steven quoted her, snatching the cup from her tiny hands. "Pardon me, but do you have any idea where the real Gus is? Because I seriously doubt that the old chap didn't just grow a fin overnight!"
Penny shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you Steven, maybe it's a different fish? Last time I saw Gus he was gray and deteriorating."
Her neighbor's face grew pale and he blinked a few times in disbelief. "What are you on about? That isn't funny at all."
"Is this some kind of joke? You saw him too! It was only last night, are you sure you didn't just buy a new fish after I left?"
"Last time I saw you was when I asked you to feed him, Penny! You weren't even in my apartment!" Steven started to hyperventilate. The situation was confusing for the two neighbors, the only sound heard was the steady beeping from the machine beside Penelope's grandfather's bed in the next room over.
"Steven," she paused, gauging his expressions, "that was Wednesday."
"Right, and today is Friday. I didn't see you yesterday, remember?"
Penelope's heart dropped. "Do you seriously not remember the two days that have passed since?"
"You know what, I'm just taking him to the pet shop, I'm sure the lady there will know what's up with the fellow." Steven seemed to brush the whole 'time traveling' topic to the back of his mind as he backed into the hallway. "Uh, thank you again. Can you still feed him tonight?"
He didn't wait for an answer as he sped towards the elevator in his pajamas. Penelope was left confused, rolling her eyes with a chuckle as she shut the door.
