As The Tank Turns

Thursday evening, a friend of mine posted a picture on Facebook of his fresh water fish tank.  Underneath the photo he wrote:  "The fresh water planted tank."  Little did we know what would spring from his innocent sharing...most of it occurring this morning.  The following is our conversation on Facebook, and how "As The Tank Turns" was born.  It introduces the dramatic story of Murk, the psychic, black market algae dealer.  I thought I'd share it with you, because we sure had some fun with it, as you will see.  My mother got involved when she heard me laughing, and added her two cents, and then another friend of mine chimed in.  Feel free to add to the story if you wish in the comments section.  I'm thinking of starting a weekly Story Telling Time day here, or on FB, beginning with an innocent enough looking photo, to get our creative juices going, and having a bit of fun.  Let me know what you think.  Enjoy!

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            Cynthia:  beautiful :)
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            Ben:   Tanks. Hehehe.
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            Ben:   You know it's funny...There are tons of fish in that tank. I guess they didn't want their picture taken that day. LOL        
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            Cynthia:  lurking fish...there's a story in there somewhere...
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            Ben:    They all had appointments at the back of the tank. :P
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            Cynthia:   ‎...with a shady dealer named Murk...(your turn :)
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            Ben:   Murk was selling black market algae...it's the new designer drug that's swept the nation's fish tanks.
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            Cynthia:   No one knew what Murk looked like, so capturing him was a problem...
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            Ben:   The fish search all the back alleys of the tank, between the blades of swaying grass, and in every crack in the driftwood. Still, the mysterious Murk was seemingly nowhere to be found. Suddenly, Beatrice, the Neon Tetra spotted something moving beneath the sand...
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            Cynthia:   Beatrice called to the others, flashing her neon signal silently...
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            Ben:   The fish gathered around Beatrice. "What is it?" said Simon, the snail. Beatrice said nothing and continued to stare intently at the sand below. Taking note of the alarmed look in Beatrice's eyes, Simon looked down at the tiny patch of sand as well...          
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            Cynthia:  ‎...and slimed himself.         
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            Ben:  (I just spit water on my computer screen)
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            Ben:  There, sticking out of the sand was a single eye that twinkled dimly...
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            Cynthia:   ‎..., ( this just added from my mother)...and Simon moved to dot the eye, but Beatrice held him back, motioning him to wait.
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            Ben:   ‎(LOL) Instead, Beatrice carefully dotted the eye. Then a booming voice came from beneath the sand, and the entire tank shook...
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            Cynthia:   The fish scattered to hide, although Beatrice didn't do so well hiding when she was scared, because her neon scales flashed like a strobe light. And Simon, poor Simon, stood stuck in his own slime as the creature rose from the depth of the sand...
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            Ben:   It was Murk, a huge flounder! Simon slimed himself again whilst making a half-assed attempt to retreat into his shell. Murk's face was strange. His eyes were both set deeply into the same side of his head...as was his mouth. He floated around to expose his face to the terrified crowd of fish, and said.....
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            Cynthia:   Fee Fie Fo Fum! I detect the presence of nasty scum!
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            Ben:   Beatrice scoffed, "What's this jive turkey talkin' 'bout?" Simon slipped his siphon out from behind his half closed, slime encrusted shell and said, "Don't anger him, Beatrice! He could swallow you whole." Murk interrupted the quarrel by clearing his throat...
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            Cynthia:  ‎.., a sound like carp bones rattling, shifted around in the throat before being swallowed, Simon thought. Before he could stop himself, Simon wondered what his shell would sound like going down....
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            ‎ Ben:  "Like a slime covered shell going down my throat, you silly snail!" cried Murk. What the fish didn't know was that Murk is a psychic flounder. He had heard all of their thoughts about him. He knew that Merve, the Giant Danio, had been thin...king impure homosexual thoughts about him. This made Murk slightly uncomfortable, yet oddly excited at the same time. Murk shook of his doubts about his own sexual (and species) preferences. Simon gasped in awe at Murk's amazing psychic abilities. He's never met a psychic algae dealing flounder before....           
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            Cynthia:   In fact, Simon couldn't recall meeting any flounder before...psychic, algae dealing, or otherwise. He wondered what it would be like to work for somefish like Murk, but didn't think he could get past the gross bumps that covered his slug whenever he looked upon Murk's face. Then he remembered Murk could read his mind...
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            Top:   Then in one foul swoop, Murky swallowed Simon up whole
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            Cynthia:  Beatrice cried, "Why'd u do dat, you foo?!"
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            Ben:    Murk hacked and spat, realizing he'd forgotten about his allergy to shellfish...
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            Cynthia:  "Simon, baby snell, lover!" Beatrice cried
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            Top:  .. meanwhile Simon, doomed to darkness inside Murks stomach, with nothing but the the last yelp he managed to let out just before being swallowed running through his head. He waits for Murk to speak in a way that his mouth is open enough for him to jolt out. . .
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            Cynthia:   Not knowing of Murks allergic reaction to his shell, he begins to notice large red bumps beginning to grow large around him in Murks stomach. He looks up, and realizes the red, angry bumps are growing on the interior of Murk's throat as well...closing the only passage way out...            o
            Ben:   Meanwhile, all the fish outside Murk's gullet float with their mouths agape, horrified at the sight of their friend being swallowed whole. "You spit him out this very instant, you stupid ass muthaf*&^ah!" cried Beatrice. She noticed an unsettled look on Murk's face. Back inside Murk's swelling innards, Simon begns to run out of air...and options....
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            Ben:  (Music swells to a crescendo)
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            Ben:   ‎(Those of us on the outside of the tank still have no idea where the fish have gone, and what's been taking place in the murky depths of the tank)
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            Cynthia:   Tune in next time for the continuing saga of: "As The Tank Turns"

Fun!  Now its your turn....if I have any readers that is...haha!