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| Rudy pays Fish a visit |
Last night
Fish had a dream.
They called it
their Recurring Nightmare.
They dreamt of Rudy,
the great red shark,
the devil from the deep sea,
their arch enemy,
and
the reason for many, many,
many, many
sleepless nights.
They dreamt Rudy
was standing
at the foot of their bed
salivating
and shouting
in turns.
He poked Penaaz
and she continued
to pretend to sleep.
Rudy
plucked Gregory's bow tie
but it stayed in place.
Finally,
Rudy left
tired of waiting
to see Fish afraid.
It's a dream,
I told Fish.
No! they cried,
upset I didn't believe them.
How do you know
he was here? I asked.
There's a red, wet
patch on the rug.
He left his mark.
He knows where
we live! Fish cried.
And Fish scurried off
to hide behind
the biggest shrub
in their tank.
Fish ordered us
to keep the windows
and doors
closed
and
not to entertain visitors
ever!
To keep the peace
we agreed.
Fish got back into their bed
and slept
with both eyes open.
I felt water spatter my newspaper. I refused to lower it and look for the source.
"Hey!"
I ignored the summons. Fish had been cold to me for a couple of days. Only Dimitri had come to me for a tickle when I put my hand into the fish tank yesterday. The rest had huddled in various corners and ignored me. I couldn't figure out why and finally gave up.
"Leave them be. They probably want something," Genie said yesterday, passing me a scraped carrot.
"Do you know why they are giving me the cold shoulder?" I started to julienne the carrot.
"You really mean, cold fin."
"Took the words out of my mouth," I grinned.
"Don't worry. We're too dumb to figure it out and they'll be too annoyed at us for not reading their minds. You'll know for sure tomorrow."
Genie was right.
This is a fictional series about a tank of fish, the narrator and her former manservant Genie. Fish have issues with the trip, or the one thing lacking.
Water rained on my newspaper. "Are you sleeping?" Penaaz screamed.
I quickly lowered it. I could see Genie, sitting opposite me in an armchair, smirk and shake his head. Damn! I shouldn't have given in so quickly.
"Er, I'm reading. How could I sleep and hold up a newspaper. What's up, Penaaz?" She was one of the five fish in my tank. She was large and stately and swanned about the tank with her soulmate Pervez.
"Why aren't you taking us on your trip?"
"You weren't invited."
There was a commotion and the water rolled furiously. Fish zipped around the tank, threw open the lid and hung on to the tank's edge to glare at me better. I was chuffed at the reaction I had excited.
I heard fairly polite swear words. I waited till they calmed down. Gregory said, "The lack of an invite has never stopped you from taking us anywhere. You are the worst guest ever!"
"I know."
"But?"
"But?
"There's always a but!"
"But, for what?"
"Explain yourself!" Fish screamed. I wanted to laugh but was distracted by Genie who had just thrown down his newspaper and was rolling around in his armchair laughing.
I grinned. "For once I'd like to roam about without having to worry about or wheel around you guys."
There was silence.
"You think we're a burden?" Gregory gasped finally, his eyes wide.
"You don't want us with you?" Dimitri said, letting go of the tank's rim and moving back into the water.
My heart raced. That was not what I meant at all. I hurried to the tank and leaned in. "Sorry. I never meant that. I was just toying with you."
Fish looked wary. Penaaz had her back to me and Pervez looked uncertain.
"Hey, guys. Please believe me! I'd never say something to hurt you. You know everything I say to you is in jest, right?" I put my hand into the tank and poked Gregory's tail. "Besides, who could I leave you with?"
"So many people!" Portas retorted.
"Name someone I'd willingly hand you over to?"
"Aunty Glory," Dimitri said, immediately at the top of the tank, animatedly swimming back and forth. Fish loved her madly. I often left the tank lid open when Aunty visited, because they loved to somersault and show off - including Penaaz. She was now treading water just out of reach of my index finger.
"I might have, if she hadn't forgotten to feed you - when my dad was in hospital - remember?"
"Yes. You fed us slow-releasing food later," Pervez said, rather accusingly.
"Which is better than being starved," said Dimitri, giving Pervez the stink eye. Pervez sighed and swam to the top of the tank. He let me rub his back.
"Anyone else?" I prodded.
Into the silence, Genie spoke. "Maybe Zeba would agree - if I asked. I don't think she'd forget to feed you guys. Maybe she'd even vacuum the floor of the tank if we show her how."
"Are you mad?" Gregory pre-empted me.
"Totally! Why else would he say such rubbish!" Portas said.
"Really, Genie. It'd be better to be chased about by a shark in a mossy aquarium than be foisted on her!" Penaaz said.
"Absolutely," concurred Pervez, looking adoringly at Penaaz.
I was in a quandary. I never really had to deal with this issue - there was always Genie or someone reliable about. And I had been planning to leave the curtains partially open and put slow-releasing fish food in the tank.
"If you don't plan to take us with you, where do you plan to keep us?" Dimitri asked me.
Genie looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I opened my mouth and closed it. Every person on the Lonavala trip was going to make fun of me for bringing Fish along. But who left their children behind to go on a trip. Besides, Fish's pronouncements would be priceless.
"Er, you'll be going with us - not that I'd planned to leave you behind," I said.
"You could have fooled us," Gregory said.
"Totally," Portas said.
"Like a shark not ready to eat a human," Penaaz said.
"Absolutely," Pervez concurred.
Dimitri jumped out of the tank, somersaulted and splashed back in. He surfaced immediately and said, "Don't mind them, Sweetie, they always imagine the worst. We'll be there, watching your back - and Genie's." He kissed the tips of my fingers and Fish followed suit.
It was the best feeling in a long time.
