Without knowing why, Helen fumbles for her keys and strides back into the house. From a drawer between the cooker and fridge, she takes a small cutting knife. Still buttoned into her coat, Helen carries the knife into the sitting room, where she pokes six quick holes in the plastic stretched tightly over the top of the fish tank. She expects to hear or see something, but the miniature world below is perfectly silent, as though the creature knows its life is finished and has accepted it.
