The Continuing Adventures of Spike and Jett (The World's Most Existential Red Beta Fish) Episode 2: "So Stupid"

Spike woke up feeling restless.  He fidgeted quietly in his skull-shaped cave.  Peering out the eye holes and pretending to dart in and out of the mouth.  Had he been human he would have been wiggling his eyebrows, switching his weight between his feet and patting his pockets for a cigarette.  Instead he just twitched his fins and looked grumpy.

He started to mutter to himself.  Jett woke up at the sound.  He strained to hear what Spike was saying, but all he heard was disjointed muttering.

"Stupid . . . don't know . . . mushrooms . . . nothing . . . why?"

Jett grimaced.  It was going to be one of those days.

Suddenly Spike shot out of his cave and began swimming recklessly all over the tank.  He circled close to the filter, he skimmed the sides, he plunged toward the bottom, he tried to jump out the top.  Always just barely evading death. 

Jett groaned.  It was going to be worse than he'd thought.

Suddenly Spike began twirling around two of Jett's beloved plants.

"Spike"  Jett's voice contained a hint of a threat, but Spike didn't respond.

"Spike, don't!"  Now Jett's voice revealed anger, but that didn't stop the other fish.  He was a red blur around the two plants.

He stopped.

When the water stilled the plants were knotted together and Spike was already snoring in his cave.  Jett muttered several fish profanities under his breath and began untangling his plants.  It would be several days work.

"Why?"  Jett pondered his "friend's" rude behavior.

"Why?"  Spike pondered the meaning of life as he slept.

Epic Duels League Player Profiles

So, you wanna play with us?  Before you do, here's a little advice on the kind of people you'll be taking on.

Joe - He is the overwhelming knight errant.  He'll do crazy and risky things for the good of his team.  He likes to be right in the thick of things giving and taking the hard hits.  Generally, he's kind, even to his enemies, but I wouldn't recomend killing one of his friends.  In direct contrast meet . . .

Jill - She who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.  A firm believer in that strategy, Jill always remembers that discretion is the better part of valor.  She'll attack only if she has a very direct and unblockable escape route.  Unless you get her really mad, then things can get interesting, sort of like the fighting style of . . .

Nathan - Here is a rash young warrior who tends to get carried away by his feelings.  He is prone to sudden outbursts and attacks motivated by personal insults.  His anime style includes a bold announcement to inspire fear in his enemies.  He is a good player until he gets angry, then he just goes for the kill.  Even more terrifying than the wrath of Nathan is . . .

Laura - Her overwhelming bloodlust is terrifying in the extreme.  Laura attacks with ferocity, her maniacal giggles growing in power as she stalks her unfortunate opponents.  Never reckless, but always scary, Laura is a player to be watched.  Laura is nearly the complete opposite of . . .

Jared - Jared is a cautious and quiet player.  But that doesn't mean he can't be dangerous.  Jared is a strategizer.  Whatever is done to him, he's prepared for it.  He's never caught with his guard down and always and danger to his enemies.  And when you mention Jared, you have to mention . . .

Elizabeth - Under the tutelage of her husband Elizabeth has become a competent fighting force.  She can be hesistant, but she knows when to make her power play.  Don't let the pretty face fool you, she knows what she's doing.  While we're on the subject of girls who play out of love . . .

Andrea - Andrea is still finding her way, mostly because her boyfriend has yet to realize that she's capable of surviving on her own.  With a little more confidence and experience Andrea is sure to become a force to be reckoned with.  Now if we could only explain that to . . .

Keith - Called The Keith by most, his style tends toward a sudden decimating attack.  The Keith may look harmless, but he's very capable of striking a few blows for the team.  Another weapon in The Keith's arsenal is his skill at frustrating other players; if he wants to annoy you, you'll be annoyed.  His hard hitting attacks and excellent annoyance skills make him a perfect sidekick for . . .

Hunter - A true evil overlord in the classic style, Hunter prefers to personally slaughter and humiliate his enemies.  He is devious, sneaky and viscious.  Those who have survived Hunter's brutal quest for world domination report a sudden and totally unannounced attack that left them three quarters dead and feeling overwhelmingly mocked.  Hunter's power can only be bested by one man . . .

Eric - Although he appears mild-mannered and harmless, Eric is the true power to be reckoned with.  Having convinced everyone that he's a nice, harmless sort of guy, Eric is setting out to show them how wrong they are about him.  He will not settle for anything less than a total and all out victory.  Anyone who thought they were safe had better watch out as long as he's around.

A story.  I accuse Nathan Marchand and Laura Fischer.

The Continuing Adventures of Spike and Jett (The World's Most Existential Red Beta Fish) Episode 1: "Where's the Beef?"

Jett meandered among the plants in the tank, moving branches into better position, nibbling off bits to better shape them, and placing the roots more firmly into the rock-lined bottom.

Spike lurked in his skull-shaped cave.  Sleeping, just sitting, or quietly mocking Jett.  It was just another day.

Spike sighed, drawing Jett's attention, "What's the point?"

"Huh?"

"What's the point?  All we do is eat and swim.  You mess with your plants and I mock you.  What's the point?"

"This is life.  It's what we do."

"Where's the life?"

"What are you on?"

"We don't DO anything.  How can you call it life, when we're not living?"

"It just is life.  We're alive aren't we."

"Are we?  Some days I'm not so sure."

"You're insane.  Of course we're alive.  We're talking"

"Like I said, some days I wonder."

"I give up.  You're ridiculous."

"Maybe."

Jett stormed, as well as a fish can, to the other side of the tank.  He hovered near his treasure chest and grumbled.  Stupid Spike was always being depressing like that.  He couldn't just be.  He had to analyze.  He was so annoying.

Spike overheard Jett's grumbling and smirked to himself.  It was good to be annoying.  It was the one time he felt truly alive.

If you don't get the title, watch the first episode of Cowboy Bebop.

Currently Playing Carried Along By Andrew Peterson see related

A bit of poetry.  Two poems to be exact and not a bit of teen angst among them.  The first one is actually a song (without music) dedicated to Angela, the best and most often neglected younger sister in the world.  The second poem is one I wrote this summer on vacation to Michigan's Upper Penninsula.  For those of you who haven't seen the places I'm talking about, I'll be happy to provide pictures.  Sorry, for the spaces.  I can't figure out how to change Xanga's formatting.

Angela (Sweet Sister)

I've decided to make a series to work with the story I posted on the 20th.  These stories will not be in any particular order (as I write them) and they may not all be about the same person.  I will be using the same device of a central theme or catchphrase and basing the story around it.  I don't think anyone will start getting names and for now "she" refers to the same main  character.  Also, I will be posting the updated version of the first story whenever I have time.  So it might not be for a while.

Rainy Days and Mondays

Monday morning.  She did not think Mondays were inherently evil, but in her experience Monday was the day when Murphy's Law operated to it's fullest extent.  She didn't know if it was because Monday was the day she had to get back into school after the weekend or if there was some evil power that only worked on Mondays, but she did know that if something could go wrong on a Monday it usually did.

She got into the car and pulled out of the driveway.  She smirked cynically a few moments later when the oldies station she was listening to finished playing "Pleasant Valley Sunday" and started on "Rainy Days and Mondays" by the Carpenters.  Obviously the DJ thought he was absolutely hilarious.  However, as "Rainy Days and Mondays" was one of her all time favorite songs she began singing along.

"What I've got they used to call the blues
Nothin' is really wrong
Feelin' like I don't belong
Walkin' around
Some kind of lonely clown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down." 

She was enjoying herself immensely and starting to think that this particular Monday might not be so bad.  She sang her way though a Beatles song and "Love Me Tender" before she arrived at school.  She was in a great mood as she hustled down the hallway on the verge of being late.  If she hadn't missteped and wrenched her ankle she would have made it to class, but she did.

One minute late, she hobbled through the door into the middle of her professor lecturing the class for doing terribly on the homework they had turned in on Friday.  He glared a bit at her for being late and handed back her paper.  He told the whole class to redo the assignment and turn it in on Wednesday as it was obvious none of them had thought about it at all.  With that out of the way, he began the lecture.

That incident summed up the rest of her morning.  She couldn't seem to do anything quite right that day.  Her sore ankle was slowing her down, a nasty headache was settling in to stay and she could feel depression commandeering her remaining brain function.  She sat through lunch in a fog of greyness and managed not to actually notice anything going on around her, a fairly impressive feat given that she was four tables away from a food sculpture contest and only two away from a testy and loud voiced discussion about the upcoming election.

As she walked to her afternoon class she grinned cynically as she noticed that the sky was turning grey and threatening to rain.  It suited her mood.  An brief conversation with a good friend before class improved her mood minimally which allowed her to be alert enough to actually get something out of the class she was paying so much money for.  As she left her class she looked out the huge hall window that overlooked most of campus and saw a hugely ominous group of clouds looming overhead.

Wonderful, that's just what I need, to get soaked as I hobble to my car.  The clouds burst in an overwhelming downpour just as she reached the door.  She looked out at the sheets of rain coming down and decided to hang out in the comfortable and dry student commons for a while.  She sat near a window and started in on some reading for class.

Her reading was distracted by the wildness of the storm outside.  Through the rain streaked windows she could see trees leaning precariously in the strong wind.  Occasionally, the sky would be split by a terrifying fork of lightning.  She gave up on her reading and sat mesmerized by the glory in front of her.

The heavens display the glory of God . . . .  Maybe lately she had let herself get too caught up in the ordinariness of her life.  God could create this amazingly beautiful storm and control its awesome power.  Nothing was ordinary because it was all touched by the hand of God.  She had been letting rainy days and Mondays bother her, until God had brought her to the point of hopelessness and used "one of those days" to remind her of who He is.

She watched the storm as it spent itself and the skies cleared.  She got up to go home and finish her homework.  It had been a rainy day and it was a Monday, but somehow she felt uplifted instead of brought down.

I'm just posting these so that I have them for reference.

Rainy Days And Mondays

Words and Music by: Paul Williams & Roger Nichols

Talkin' to myself and feelin' old
Sometimes I'd like to quit
Nothing ever seems to fit
Hangin' around
Nothing to do but frown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.

What I've got they used to call the blues
Nothin' is really wrong
Feelin' like I don't belong
Walkin' around
Some kind of lonely clown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.

Funny but it seems I always wind up here with you
Nice to know somebody loves me
Funny but it seems that it's the only thing to do
Run and find the one who loves me.

What I feel has come and gone before
No need to talk it out
We know what it's all about
Hangin' around
Nothing to do but frown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.