In which the fish speaks on her exhibition and two small scraps of home

The fish has been unable to write:

Perhaps there are still folks who call by this quiet place, and, finding it empty, move on?

So here are some times in the 

life of the fish, in the event I can induce you to stay a moment.

Exhibition (1)

It was a rather big job to suddenly have to empty out my nest

and take it somewhere new

and hang it up, all in the light rather than in stacks around the wall.

    

after two days it was nearly done.

Upon which a herd of dogs raced in to see what was going on.

Either that or they knew there as a fish in the vicinity: you know what dogs are like.

Domestics (1)

Upon receiving a note such as this one that I was given 

one might be forgiven for puzzlement.

Unless you knew that the writer of the note

had been reading the Aberdeen Bestiary

and you knew it meant "good luck mum"

in an obscur and little-known dialect.

The above author also penned the following advice

To

Let you spirit Sore

I will try my best...

Exhibition (2)

At last the fish has hung the paintings up on the wall

in the sea-grotto

with the shiny white floor.

And look, someone has come early.

                                                

It's Constantine.

                                        

Here is Constantine and the fish about a century ago

at another of the fish's exhibition openings

only about 200m away from where this years one is held.

My, we look different.

Well the fish does. 

Annoyingly, Constantine does not.

Here is a local who makes the fish laugh, and on doing so, laughs himself.

So we all laugh loudly and it rings in the grotto. 

Even Div laughs out there in the street.

and it continues.

The hour before a show opens is not much fun. It is usually as quiet and scary as anything you can imagine.

I m glad Div and Con have come early. 

But Div is not good on advising me on how to do my hair.

It gets dark

                               

And the fish swims in the grotto

and waits for guests to arrive.

         

*

Domestics (2)


My daughter has issues at present. 

She is 16.

It seems she has often has issues

 but at the moment, it is quite distressing.

I develop anxiety pains at times like this,

when things seem to overwhelm me.

She seemed so distressed it got me wondering

what I would have done if she were a small girl.

In fact I looked at a photo of her as a little gitl and wondered where on earth 

her baby face had got to, but there you go.

If she were small I would have cuddled her up in bed with a story.

So that is what I have done, cuddled her up in bed with a story, 

which means I have to go to bed early and I bundle her up in my bed 

and I read to her. I cram her and her puffy tear stained face and her smeary make up 

and her big limbs into my bed and give her a bit of a pat on the back for a while and then read.

She thinks its very funny, and she thinks the story is boring.

But I pin her down tightly and I read a chapter of The Water Babies every night. 

Persistently.

She falls asleep very quickly, in fact, I had to prise open one of her eyeballs last night and hold up the book closely

because she was going to miss the picture of Tom

 with the beautiful Water Fairy. 

Already she looks a lot better.

In fact she laughed when I marched into her room, turned off her computer 

and said story time

 instead of screaming at me, and she trotted on into my bed.

and curled up ready for the book.
She later said it was the most
silly story ever.

but the cats thought this was a grand idea too.

Her father does not like this at all.

He has been banished to her bed

and his feet get tangled in her wrought iron bedstead.

But look

I say,

You can see the improvement.

Indeed, she looks much better, with roses in her cheeks and 

at least I know she is not on chat all night

or crying

till after midnight.

Her father says

I think I'll have to get her a bigger bed.

I say

Good idea.


*




Sea






and all the while

the fish swims in the vasty ocean:

where the fish belongs.