escaped the fish. Then the fun started all over again. This whole game reminded Allie of kittens chasing a toy on a string.
Sometimes the fish swam right under the rack. Every time Lemonade would stick his paw through the cracks and try to reach the fish with his claws, but it never worked. The fish would immediately go deeper, making sure to splash its tail on the water and soak the unfortunate fisher. The cat would snort in disdain and shake himself dry. Allie would laugh heartily. In a word, it was great fun.
But then Mom came in, and of course everyone got in trouble. Part of the bathtub water had somehow managed to transfer itself onto the floor and Allie’s dress. Allie and Lemonade were firmly told to leave the bathroom immediately.
“And you,” Mom told the fish, “Dad will deal with you tonight.”
Allie’s Dad was a test pilot. Allie was very proud of him because her Dad’s job was so rare and dangerous, a job for real men, as Dad would say. Many kids in her third grade class were jealous of Allie and treated her with involuntary respect, for it wasn’t every day that you met someone whose dad was a test pilot. Allie realized that she shared in her Dad’s fame, and, naturally, she enjoyed it. But she tried really hard not to get stuck up, which made her classmates look up to her even more.
Allie’s Dad loved his job because he loved vehicles and speed. Unlike what most people thought, he didn’t have to fly airplanes very often, so most of the time he had to study in minute detail the construction of the latest aircraft models and train on special flight simulators that imitated a real cockpit. Due to such short hours in the air he had to, in his own words, quench his thirst for speed by racing cars. That’s right, on top of being an ace pilot, he was a first-rate award-winning race car driver. That’s what everyone thought – his friends, coworkers, and, of course, Allie (Dad often brought her along to watch him race). Everyone thought that – except Mom, who said that Dad took part in that dangerous business with only one end in mind – to escape his household duties. However, when Allie saw her Mom’s glowing eyes when she greeted Dad at home after another racing victory, she would start to doubt the sincerity of Mom’s words. She finally decided that Mom was just saying that to help Dad keep his feet on the ground.
That night Dad had no training sessions at the race track, so he was home early – and immediately charged with a fish-cleaning assignment. He reluctantly dropped a handful of fresh newspapers in the chair and meekly made his way to the bathroom, led by Allie who was excited to share the news of the day. Lemonade was following them, rubbing against their legs and casting eager glances at Dad.
“Well, let’s see your shark.”
Dad’s words betrayed undisguised irony. But, once he saw the monstrous fish making lively laps around the bathtub, the irony gave way to surprise.
“Oh wow, quite a curious specimen.”
At that moment, Dad snapped his fingers and his eyes lit up with a familiar gleeful spark.
“Listen, kid, this gives me an awesome idea.”
Allie clapped happily, anticipating some new kind of fun. Dad must have come up with something clever, he was so good at that.
Dad’s idea was the following. Since the fish was feeling well and wasn’t about to pass away any time soon, quite the opposite, there was really no sense in killing it off right then when it would only feed three persons. They could easily wait a couple of weeks and feed it to grow big enough for a whole party of guests at a Grand Fish Feast. Dad immediately summoned the family council and proposed to vote on the suggestion. Allie showed her enthusiastic support – she loved having people over, and offered to be the Chief Fish Feeder. Mom withheld her vote, being doubtful about the success of the plan and expressing her concern that Dad had come up with it in order to dodge his chores again. Lemonade was the only one firmly against the idea. He somehow felt he wasn’t going to enjoy any fish that night, and he was protesting loudly. As a result, Dad’s idea was approved by a majority vote. Allie raced to the kitchen to grab a big slice of bread and took it to the bathroom to feed to the fish. The fish devoured the offering with great appetite.
“Well, looks like it’s going to work,” Dad said. He patted Allie on the cheek and went to read his papers.
That night another thing happened, quite insignificant at first sight. Allie realized its full significance only afterwards, when IT happened… But, let’s not jump ahead of the story.
About 8 o’clock in the evening, when it was already dark outside, their doorbell rang. It was Jean. The visit itself wasn’t that unusual because every once in a while she stopped by to get Dad’s help with replacing a lightbulb in the hallway. That was the reason for her visit now as well.
Dad grabbed a stool and a new lightbulb, and then stepped outside the door and stared at the softly glowing light fixture above.
“Jean, you got mixed up. Everything seems to be working fine.”
“What do you mean, working fine?” Mean Jean unabashedly charged an attack. “That there lightbulb, not replaced this whole month! Ready to go out any minute.”
Dad was about to open his mouth to protest, when the hallway went completely dark. He only humphed in surprise and went back to get a flashlight.
“Just as I said! Would’ve tripped all over yourselves in the dark and blamed Jean, as always.” Mean Jean gave Mom and Allie, who had come out into the hallway, a triumphant look.
“See here, Irene,” Jean turned to Mom, “that there fish today, at the market… Missed out on it… I bet it was good, eh?”
“Well, I haven’t cooked it yet, you see,” Mom nodded towards the bathroom. “It’s taking a bath in there.”
The bathroom door stood ajar, and you could hear the splashing of water inside. Jean popped her head in the bathroom and clucked her tongue, awestruck. Allie piped in then and proudly announced their grand fish-feeding plan. Mom smiled shyly:
“Oh, don’t listen to her. She and Dad, always up to something.”
“Eh, I say. Not bad.” Jean was feeling happier for some reason, and that concerned look on her face had gone away. “Nice plan. Well, then, here you go!”
She reached inside her vest pocket (she wore that vest all year round), searched for a minute, and finally fished out a grubby-looking piece of candy covered in crumbs.
“Will it eat that?” Allie doubtfully fumbled with the candy.
“Eh, but why not? That there, it’s good candy, tasted it meself. If the fish don’t eat it, you eat it yourself,” generously offered Mean Jean.
By that time Dad was done with the lightbulb and was replacing the fixture. Jean popped in to look at the fish once again and reluctantly said goodbye. Mom thanked her for the candy and promised to invite her over for fish. After that, the appeased concierge finally left. The fish swallowed the candy with great delight. You could hear the crunch clearly from under the water.
For the following three days Allie stayed home, although her earache was almost gone. But now it didn’t feel like imprisonment anymore. This new project enthralled Allie so much that she could spend hours in the bathroom playing with her new pet. The fish was so much fun and, Allie thought, so smart, that the girl decided to train
