Through Devonian Eyes

Episode 2 :


(contd. From Episode 1)


So, Angel silently cursed her perpetually sulky, crooked- toothed ugly owner. Cursing silently was the only thing she could do. She was a fish. She couldn’t talk.

‘Woe is mine’ she thought. *Sigh*

She gulped down some more vodka hoping its intoxicating effect would trick her mind into thinking that the ugly creature on the other side of the glass was a charming prince. But even the vodka couldn’t help her. She thought of drinking the whole bottle but suddenly realized that if she did that, the bottle would become empty and she would have no fluid to swim in. And fish cannot survive without fluid. They die if they are pulled out of it. 5th grade science. She was an educated fish.

Suddenly she was forced to snap out of her thoughts – again. Her owner was still tapping the bottle.

“Nice Fishey….Angel….come here…..heeeehheh…….fishey dance…..dance fishey!!!”

Angel was horrified. The man was asking her to dance. It reminded her of her favorite dialogue from an Indian movie called Sholay - “Basanti…..in kutton ke saamne mat nachna….”

To make him shut up, she decided to oblige by doing a little dance – just for formality’s sake. She waved her fins just once..... hoping it would suffice. Unfortunately, Mr. Sulky did not seem to think that a single-wave-of-fin counted as a dance. So, he kept on screaming “Dance fishey…..”

She decided to disobey him.

This became a daily routine. He would try to talk to Angel. Angel didn’t care. She felt sorry for him at times. He had no other company. So, he kept trying to find a friend in Angel. But Angel felt that he himself was responsible for his state. He was so bad natured, he couldn’t possibly have friends. He didn’t even have a wife. Angel wasn’t sure if that was a fortunate or an unfortunate thing.

Then one day, things changed…….


At around 9 pm on a cool, crisp Saturday evening in September, Angel saw her owner setting the dinner table for two. They were about to have a visitor. She wondered who it could be……. She wasn’t too excited because he NEVER had interesting visitors. But this time seemed to be different……he was setting the table extra carefully.

At around 9.30, the bell rang……….

She strained her eyes to see who it was……

(to be continued in Episode 3- Due: Saturday, 14th August)