Gregory went to the ice chest that he had been keeping stowed away at work and retrieved the last of what had been a large bag of bulk frozen hotdogs. He had stolen these from a back freezer of a small restaurant on the park grounds that had been closed for the slow winter season. For the last week or so, the hotdogs had served as nightly offerings to the whale. He had noticed the large value pack of dogs as he was dragging his supervisor's body into the freezer and decided to take them with him.
He hadn't planned on killing Rick, but neither Rick nor the whale, gave him much choice. His supervisor had caught him loitering around the tank again and threatened to change his work assignment. This was not acceptable, as it was imperative that he continue to have access to his 6 ton friend; and the whale's orders were swift and absolute. He smashed the back of Rick's head in with a wet floor sign and dragged him into the freezer; ironically leaving a blood trail on the floor of the restaurant, which had to be mopped up.
Some time passed before anyone found Rick's body and Gregory, being one of the night staff under Rick, was one of the first people to be questioned by police. Obviously he couldn't tell them what had really happened. After all, that might endanger his relationship with the whale. But he had to explain his absence and the fact that no one knew his whereabouts during the general night of the murder. He decided to tell the officers that he had snuck away into the administrative offices and was rifling through people's desks and jerking off in there; throughout most of the night. This wasn't a complete lie, as he sometimes did that.
The two officers were inclined to believe him. Experience had taught them that this kind of shit happened all of the time and this guy looked exactly like someone who would do something like that. Besides, who would actually admit to that if it wasn't true? After several more minutes of awkward conversation, they told him that they weren't going to inform anyone at the park about what he had said to them and thanked him for his honesty.
Several days had passed since then and now all of that ugliness was behind him. Tonight Gregory would take things to the next level and fulfill his dream of actually getting to swim with the whale. The killer whale show stadium was dark when he began the necessary preparations. He took several rolls of paper towels which he had procured from a supply closet, set each of them on fire and strategically placed them like giant candles around the tank in a very ritualistic fashion. Using a piece of chalk, he scrolled pictograms on the concrete floor. These clumsy squiggles were of the ancient language recognized only by sea creatures and him.
For ceremonial purposes, he chose not to wear his work uniform and instead opted for a bathrobe from home. He was wearing nothing else. The mood was set and he began to ascend the stairs to the platform that would give him access to the water. As he approached the edge of the tank, organ music from some centuries old cathedral that he had never been to and probably just made up, ran through his head. Lit only by the makeshift torches surrounding the pool, he stretched out his arms as if to embrace the dark water in front of him and fell forward.
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