Age anxiety and fish trouble - Chapter 11

Tuesday

I wake up sometime in the middle of the night and feel a great discomfort in my legs which soon goes away. I manage to turn on my side and i can see how the scales spread over the entire leg and the fish tail grows and unfolds. Actually, I don't want to see but I get so fascinated by it that I can't look away.

Out of old habit, I check what time it is. It shows 02.12 and I went to bed around 8. So I have slept for just over 6 hours.

I crawl down to the floor and once down I drag myself to the bathroom and the shower. Just like the previous day, I put the washtub over the drain and also open the faucet at the sink on full blast.

I'm thinking how I can transform back and not have to wait more than half a day to be normal again. I push for all I'm worth and something happens.

What happens is that feces come from a smaller opening just above the fish tail. I get frustrated to say the least but decide to try to pick it up before it mixes with the water.

I make a loud noise of displeasure and it's a loud screeching sound that echoes in the pipes and on the bathroom mirror there is a tiny little crack in the glass. Oops. I have to be more subtle with my voice.

It's really not easy to get hold of the toilet paper because it hangs quite high up, but I'm really stubborn and succeed. I carefully collect what came out and manage to throw it and the paper into the toilet. However, I can't flush the toilet because the flush button is way too high up.

When I see that the water is high enough throughout the apartment, I turn off the water and start swimming out into the rooms. I pass the bedroom and it is now 5.50am. A few times I splash like crazy with my tail and the water splashes onto the wall.

I'm trying to transform myself again but this time I'm trying to have an image in my head of what I look like when I'm normal and trying to force myself into that image of myself. I push on mentally and right as it is it happens.

I manage to turn back into a human. No fishtail and no scales or weirdness. However, I am so hungry now that I can hardly concentrate on getting the water out of the apartment. I have to get something nutritious. I quickly eat several sandwiches. That will be enough.

I open my front door so some of the water can run out there. The water in the bathroom runs down the drain so there is no problem there. I also flush the toilet when I'm in the bathroom.

When I'm standing there in the bathroom, I check my reflection and take a closer look. Surely I look a little less rounder? It could be because I changed my eating habits, but the transformations can also probably explain the matter. At least I'll be happy with looking less fat.

I pick up the last of the water in the apartment with the swab. I use the window scraper on the stairs to get it off my door. I don't want anyone to know that the water is coming from my apartment.

When everything is dry apart from a few splatters on some wall, I make breakfast. It's still almost 7 o'clock so it's just in time to do this. There will be three boiled eggs and a lot of sandwiches with ham on them. A large glass with water and salt in it too. I skip the tea today.

Satisfied, I head to work. Something in my head tells me maybe I should stay home but I ignore that thought. I go into the food market and buy a fish gratin. It looks very good.

Once at work, I put the last pictures on the last board. All clear. I go over to the manager and show her. Together we move the paintings away to the so-called exhibition room. The room is currently empty and we are starting to put up the paintings. Olivia comes by and is helpful.

We work efficiently until lunch. Sune is sitting out there in the kitchen. I walk up to him and apologize for snapping at him the other day. He accepts and says that everyone can have a bad day sometimes.

I heat my fish gratin in the microwave and check today's newspaper. I get very interested when I see the headline. It reads as follows

Mermaid seen near Knösöudden

I read the article and it said that some fishing tourists in a bigger boat had seen a mermaid near the Knösöudde. Unfortunately, they didn't get a photo of it, but the witnesses say it was very large and had brown-red scales that sparkled in the sun and a very large dark fish tail that it hit the water with several times.

The reporter has also interviewed a marine biologist but he doesn't think they saw a mermaid. They probably saw a seal and were mistaken about the color and the size of the tail.

Although I have not been there, I understand that the tourists really saw a mermaid, considering that I myself turned into a merman. I'm wondering if I should swim there sometime when I'm transformed into a merman and make contact with her. But first I have to be able to control my transformations of course.

Sune has seen what I'm looking at and he laughs behind me.

- Such weird stories the newspaper write about.
- How do you know it's not true?
- But seriously. Mermaids?
- Yes, a bit strange, but the sea is one of the least explored on earth so far, so why not.
- Nah Nah Not a chance that something like that would exist. Forget it.
- But what if...

I'm starting to feel frustrated that Sune doesn't want to believe what's in the paper and I'm ready to argue my case when I'm interrupted by the pinging of the microphone. I go over and get the food, grab the newspaper and sit next to Sune.

- The ocean is the least explored and it is clear that there may be things that we know nothing about. Take the beast in Loch Ness or the Great Sea Beast for example. So far, no one has found them or proven their existence.
- Loch Ness is just fake. The first photo of it is fake. They have even admitted it for several years. And even if Loch Ness had existed, it is not the same as a mermaid.

Sune sits and stares at me in an unpleasant way and I feel uncomfortable. At the same time, my legs start to tingle and burn too.

Oh no. Don't tell me I...

I excuse myself as soon as I can and run to the toilet and lock the door. I saw that Olivia was on her way to the kitchen. I take deep breaths on the toilet and try to calm myself down. Just to be safe, I take off my pants.

The legs have almost joined together and it looks like I have light scales on my legs but it all stops after a while and the legs become normal again. It stops tingling and burning about them too.

Good. I continue to breathe calmly before walking out of the toilet and back to the kitchen. Inside, Sune and Olivia sit laughing at something. The food has become cold so I reheat it.

I eat in silence and glare angrily at Sune a few times, but he doesn't notice. I have just finished the food when the lunch break is over and I go back to the exhibition room. The manager is not there but I continue the work. Soon several of the paintings are sitting where they should be and I look at them carefully and feel satisfied.

The rest of the day goes well and I am satisfied and happy when I get home.

Already from the entrance to the stairwell I hear agitated voices. Opps They've discovered all the water and wonder where it's coming from. I take the elevator up to the fourth floor.

There are a lot of people standing there on the stairs. Some of them live on the same floor as me, but I also see others who live further down the house. Everyone is clearly upset. The landlord sees me.

- Hi Kenneth. Do you know where all the water comes from?
- I have no idea. It was dry here when I went to work anyway.
- It wasn't at all, says an angry tenant.
- You don't know when I left, do you?
- You always leave at Eight o'clock and I rested my dog just after you left and then there was water outside on the stairs and a little up here.
- I rode the lift and I didn't see any water.

The landlord and the others are silent for a while but finally the landlord tells everyone to go into their apartments and then he will ask each one about what they saw and where they think the water came from.

The landlord accompanies me into my apartment. I hope the water that got on the walls has dried now. The host walks around a bit and checks my apartment and asks a few questions. After a while he is satisfied and stands by the door with his hand on the handle.

- If there's a problem in the house, just tell me and I'll fix it.
- Absolutely. Hope you clear the problem.
- Let's hope so. Well. See you.

When the host has left, I sink into a chair near the front door and just want to disappear somewhere. I sit there for a while but then I feel a great hunger. I crave snacks, like chips and such.

I snort and shove it all away but in the end I can't handle the urge and go downstairs and walk away towards the snack store. There I see that they have a sale on some chips. You can buy 3 pieces for SEK 40. As found. I buy them and go home.

Back home, I munch the entire first bag and feel just perfect. Later that evening my parents call. They have seen the notice about the mermaid in the newspaper and are worried. I assure you that it is certainly nothing to worry about. Mom seems most hesitant whether she likes it or not.

Even later, when the sun has gone down, I listen to a Lynyrd Skynyrd record. Their song "Free Bird" is still as cool as when I first heard it in the movie Forrest Gump in the scene when Jenny is high and about to jump off a balcony high up. The song and that scene still give me chills when I think about them.

Satisfied with the day, I go to bed. Even when things are difficult, there is usually something good about it all.