Let Loose the
Blowfish
by Dan Marvin
“Let
loose the blowfish,” McQueen said to Edi.
Tagged with a special radio-transmitter, the
blowfish sped off as soon as it was released.
From the boat, Edi and McQueen settled in to
watch its progress. McQueen cast a sideways
glance at Edi and was delighted to discover no
anomalous behavior from that direction. He wished
it had always been so.
“Let
loose the blowfish,” a 10-year-old Jimmy
McQueen had told his teacher. The teacher had
looked at him strangely (since she was a Math
teacher) and recommended to his parents that he
be medicated. They had complied.
“Let
loose the blowfish” a 20-year-old Jim
McQueen had told his date after a particularly
breathless make-out session. His date pulled back
and slapped him hard leaving a stinging imprint
of her hand on his face.
“Let
loose the blowfish” a 30-year-old James
McQueen had told the waiter. The waiter looked
concerned and went to fetch the proprietor. The
Japanese man came over to the table and asked
that McQueen and his wife leave his restaurant;
they did not need any protesters making trouble
over the potentially deadly menu-item.
“Let
loose the blowfish” a 40-year-old Jimmy
McQueen had said to the ticket saleslady. She
looked at him oddly and called over the aquarium
manager. They conferred behind the Plexiglas for
a moment before the manager shook his head and
the ticket clerk returned with a frown. She
refused he and his son entry. Dejectedly he left
and thought hard about the direction of his life.
Now, finally
at 50 years old, McQueen had the opportunity to
use his favorite phrase without repercussion. He
smiled to himself as they watched the blip
speeding away, part of his research project.
“Let loose the blowfish!” he said again,
triumphantly. Edi looked at him oddly and
shuffled a bit further away.
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