School of fish in the abandoned train station

The School of fish in the abandoned train station is a recurring group of small fish inhabiting the flooded basement of an abandoned station. First encountered in the water below a spiral staircase, the fish gather around bread offered by Grace Town; later, the same pool becomes the source of fish that Grace Town and Henry Isaac Page bring home as pets. The school links an encounter with an unfamiliar place to the pair’s growing, playful domestic life.

Habitat and First Encounter

The fish live in the station’s flooded basement, which prevents Grace Town and Henry Isaac Page from descending all the way down the staircase. Grace sits on a low step, removes her shoes, and puts her feet in the water. When she drops in a small piece of bread, it floats briefly before disappearing beneath the surface. She explains that fish are in the water and invites Henry to sit quietly beside her.

After Henry joins her, Grace feeds the fish more bread. A few minutes later, small silver fish, about the size of his palm, emerge and move around their legs. As she offers more food, additional fish gather until the water around them is active with the school. The scene depends on patience and stillness: the fish appear not through pursuit but in response to the bread and the pair’s quiet attention.

Capture and Domestic Afterlife

The station pool later becomes the source of fish for the couple’s shared pet-keeping project. Grace uses bread to draw the school to the foot of the stairs while Henry and their friend Lola Leung are with her. With a net they bought at a pet store, Grace catches a small fish and transfers it to a plastic bag containing water from the basement.

After their first adopted fish dies, Henry and Grace clean the tank and replace its earlier decor with plants and aquarium-safe figures. They then bring home Ricky Martin Knupps II, another fish captured from the station pond. The school thus supplies not only an arresting encounter in the abandoned building but also a continuing connection between that place and the couple’s shared care for their new pet.

Narrative Significance

The fish are described as a group through their movements and response to food, rather than as individualized characters. Their presence nevertheless gives the station pool a life beyond its role as a hidden, flooded space: the fish gather, scatter, and return as Grace feeds them. For Henry, sitting beside Grace and watching the school becomes an occasion for quiet closeness, while the later capture turns that encounter into a shared domestic responsibility. The fish’s narrative function therefore shifts from a surprising discovery to part of a small, improvised family ritual.