Psychotic Break

A psychotic break is never pretty, but when it happens to a nurse shark, the Nurse Shark as a matter of fact, it can be particularly ugly.

For years the Nurse Shark had cared for the children of the other sharks. When the Great Whites left for the summer to terrorize the beaches of Australia, she showed their children how to hop on the ocean floor like kangaroos. When the Tiger Sharks left to prowl their jungle reefs, she watched their cubs while they batted great balls of kelp. When the Hammerheads volunteered for Habit for Humanity, she entertained their children with Bob the Builder videos.

It was a selfless existence and she gave too much of herself. One day she snapped. The baby sharks were darting here and there and everywhere. "Sit still!" she commanded, but they wouldn't listen. Something inside of her broke. Scooping up each young shark she stuffed them in bottles.

At last they were still.