by Jon Lymon
Three
‘Where is he? Where is he?’ Gloria shook sleepy Millie until she opened her heavy eyes.
‘Where’s who?’ Millie asked, shocked to see Gloria so angry so early.
‘Your new best friend. I want to have words with him.’
Millie stared at Gloria, trying to remember if she’d ever seen her this angry at any time of day. ’I think he’ll still be asleep, as I’d like to be and as you ought to be. What’s the matter with you? Why are you up so early?’
‘You need to ask?’ said Gloria, trying to remember whereabouts Bertie slept. She peered in the seagrass swaying nearby to see if he was hiding among the reeds. ‘Look at me,’ Gloria said.
Millie did exactly that. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.
‘What’s wrong?’ Gloria repeated, unable to believe her best friend could say something like that when something was so obviously, so blatantly, so clearly very, very wrong. ‘What do I look like to you?’ she asked Millie
‘You look like you, like Gloria.’
Gloria couldn’t hide her surprise. She couldn’t believe Millie would lie to her like this.
‘You’re in on this, aren’t you? You’re both in on it, you and him.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ said Millie, wide awake now.
Gloria decided to try a different tack. ‘Is there anything different about me today?’ she asked.
Millie frowned. ‘Are you holding your fin at a funny angle again?’
‘I do not hold my fin at a funny angle and never have.’ Gloria felt her temper about to get the better of her. ‘Can’t you see,’ she screamed. ‘Somebody’s stolen the gold from my scales. And I bet I know who.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Millie asked.
‘I knew you wouldn’t understand,’ said Gloria. ‘Your new admirer, that’s who. He’s jealous of our friendship, so he stole my gold while I was asleep. Where is he?’
Millie shook her head, getting seriously worried about Gloria, wondering if she might be sleepwalking and sleeptalking.
‘You’re protecting him, Millie Harper, I know you are.’
‘I’m not, I’m not,’ Millie protested. ‘Listen, why don’t you go and get some more sleep and we can talk about this when it’s properly morning.’
‘No time to wait. I know where he’ll be,’ said Gloria, and off she swam.
Gloria woke up a few hundred goldfish during her search for Bertie through the seagrass. Eventually she found him and wasted no time waking him up.
‘I know what you’ve done,’ she shouted, startling Bertie and his few hundred neighbours. ‘I know it was you who stole my gold,’ she yelled.
‘What? Eh? Hmmmm?’ Bertie, who had been enjoying a pleasant dream woke to the nightmare vision of angry Gloria flapping her fins at him.
‘You stole my gold last night and now look at me.’
‘I stole your gold? What do you mean?’
Bertie thought Gloria looked like the same old Gloria to him, but knew now was not a good time to be saying that.
‘Don’t play the innocent with me, Bertie Loach. You left that shiny piece of glass on the seabed so I would see what you’d done to me,’ said Gloria. ‘Do you think I want to go around looking like this?’
Some of Bertie’s neighbours looked at each other and wondered what Gloria was going on about, but knew better than to interrupt her when she was in this kind of mood.
‘You stole all the gold from my scales and I want it back,’ said Gloria.
‘Why would I take your gold?’ asked Bertie. ‘What would I do with it?’
‘You’d think of something.’
And at that moment, Bertie did think of something.
As stronger shafts of morning light beamed down from the surface, Bertie looked up.
‘Look,’ he said. ‘Up there. That golden light. That’s where all gold comes from. Maybe that’s where your gold’s gone.’
Gloria looked up at the distant orb. She’d seen it many times before and hadn’t thought much of it.
‘You think I was born yesterday?’ she asked.
‘It was last week, wasn’t it?’ Bertie replied.
Gloria huffed.
‘Where do you think gold comes from then?’ Bertie asked.
Gloria paused, waiting for an answer to occur to her.
‘I don’t know,’ she said when nothing did. ‘All I want to know is where my gold’s gone.’
‘Don’t you see,’ said Bertie, his eyes wide with excitement. ‘If that shining light gives out the gold, maybe it can take it away too?’
Gloria looked around at all the other goldfish who were wide awake and listening to their conversation, some nodding enthusiastically at what Bertie was saying.
‘How far away is that thing?’ Gloria asked.
‘Not far,’ said Bertie. ‘And I bet it’s easy to get to.’
The nodding of the other goldfish stopped, and some looked at each other, worried.
‘Just think,’ Bertie added. ‘You could get the most golden scales ever seen. And it would make you the most beautiful goldfish anyone has ever seen.’
‘Would I be prettier than Millie?’ she asked.
Bertie nodded. ‘You’d be the prettiest fish in the ocean. Prettier than the most beautiful mermaid imaginable,’ he said.
Gloria felt a warmth wash over her. She managed a half-smile at Bertie before she swam away.
When she had gone, Bertie couldn’t stop himself from bursting out laughing. The rest of the goldfish who’d gathered around shook their heads and drifted away.
A few minutes later, Millie swam up and swooned when Bertie’s head poked out between the reeds.
‘Have you see Gloria?’ she asked.
Bertie nodded. ‘She woke everyone up.’
Millie looked worried. ‘Did she seem OK to you?’
‘A bit angry, but no worse than normal.’
‘Where did she go?’
‘She went off somewhere,’ said Bertie. ‘But I’m sure she’ll be back soon. Do you fancy doing something today. Something with me?’
‘I’m meant to be playing with Gloria today,’ Millie said.
‘Why don’t we hang out until she comes back? Then you can do whatever.’
Millie didn’t need much persuading but made it look like answering was a tough decision.
‘OK then,’ she said.
Bertie smiled and they swam off together.
