Marvin’s eight tentacles wrapped around the sailfish’s dorsal fin as he held on for dear life.
“Isn’t this great!” Susie, safely tucked in behind him, shouted, as she watched the turbulent jet of water stream off of the speeding sailfish’s tail. All of her tubefeet were firmly attached to the sailfish’s stern.
“Sure,” said Marvin, through a gritted beak, “But did you have to charter the fastest fish in the sea?”
“Didn’t you always tell me, “It’s not the journey, it’s the destination”?” asked Susie.
“Yes, but shouldn’t we at least give the journey part a chance to grow on me?” Marvin asked.
“Relax, Marvin! Here, have some crab cocktail!” Susie handed up a terrified crab in a special glass.
“Here’s to your stealth!” he said. In a flash, the crab was gone, and all Susie saw was Marvin carefully rearranging his tentacles.
“Why, thanks, Susie! I do feel better. I think I’m getting the hang of this!”
Just then, the sailfish twisted awkwardly and slammed sideways into a big wave. Marvin consciously adjusted the flesh around his brow to hold more tightly onto his hat, and the growing waves began to toss them around.
“It’s getting a bit rough, but don’t worry, folks,” the sailfish called back to them, “I’m going to reef the sail.” And with that, he folded his fin down a bit and things got much more pleasant. “As soon as it occurs to you, you should reef,” said the sailfish. “A marlin taught me that!”
As they dove deeper, a flying gurnard came whizzing by, its large pectoral fins fully spread. As the winged fish passed, Marvin heard, “Yes! I’ve finally figured it out! I have learned how to throw myself against the sand, and miss!”
A few seconds later, they were about to collide with a seahorse. The poor guy was flopping end-over-end, and Marvin determined he had surrendered to the power of the sea. “Look at that pathetic being,” Marvin pointed out to Susie, “He’s given up!”
The pitiful seahorse flew past them, and Marvin observed that he was constantly muttering, clutching a suitcase, oblivious to his surroundings. As Marvin’s flesh instinctively tried to blend in with the seahorse’s patterns, he realized that the seahorse was colored all wrong for a horse who had given up hope; instead, he was angry.
“Wonder what that was all about?” he thought, gazing back at the hurtling creature.
Even reefed, the sailfish was zooming through the turbulent water. Although it didn’t make any sense given how loud it was, Marvin was soothed by the noise of the water rushing past his ears.
Suddenly, a shout of “Hey baby, look at me! You gotta like this!” disturbed Marvin’s peace. He looked up just in time to see a flasher wrasse strobing his multi-colored fins at them as he was tossed in the waves. Susie blushed, and Marvin instantly, awkwardly, looked away, knowing that with his chromatophores he was the only creature in the sea who could ever tell when an orange-red starfish became just a little bit redder.
“Call me!” the wrasse said, just before he was washed out of sight.
Marvin comforted Susie as she recovered from the encounter, and right then he decided with pleasure that his trip was already off to an auspicious start. Given all that had happened so far, he pulled out his journal and began to write.
Suddenly, his reverie was rudely interrupted when the sailfish came to a lurching halt, and Marvin and Susie slammed into a reef-covered wall.
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