Fish Change Direction in Cold Weather by Pierre Szalowski Page A

He told them about his fish and his knot theory, how vital it was to him. He took out his
sheets of paper filled with complicated calculations to explain that with one gas canister, if the temperature fell to zero degrees in his apartment, he wouldn’t be able to keep the water in
the aquarium at thirty-two degrees for longer than one hour and thirty-three minutes. The manager waited for a moment before replying, to make sure all the customers were paying attention. Then he
spoke very loudly.
    ‘Sir, we’re trying to help people here who’ve lost their heat and who have children or old folks to look after who are going to suffer from the cold, and you want to take all
the gas in the store for your fish? Why, that’s a scandal!’
    Thunderous applause from the customers. Aware that he was now centre stage, the manager took twenty-three of the twenty-five gas canisters from Boris’s shopping trolley and carefully set
them down by the till, as if they were the day’s special offer.
    ‘Anyone who needs gas can help themselves. But no more than two per person. Have a thought for other people!’
    Shamefaced, Boris pushed his trolley up to the woman at the checkout. She picked up one canister to read the price. She multiplied it by two, then when she was sure no one was watching, she
quickly grabbed a canister from the huge pile surrounding her till and slipped it discreetly into Boris’s bag.
    ‘I have fish, too. I know what it’s like. It’s a real can of worms if you don’t look after them!’
    Boris greeted this topological solidarity with a simple nod of his head, then hurried off to see if he’d fare better in another store. Unfortunately, the clientele of those other stores
were all Quebeckers utterly lacking in solidarity. He couldn’t find a single gas canister. The shelves were empty: other selfish shoppers had taken the lot.
    Staring at his aquarium, Boris knew that if the ice storm led to a power cut, he would not last more than four hours and thirty minutes. So what if the neighbour’s kitten had got out? With
glacial indifference he watched Brutus scamper across the street. The kitten was lucky: a car went by but didn’t run him over.
    In life, it’s every man for himself.

WHAT ON EARTH WAS THE SKY UP TO NOW?
     
     
     
    When my mum came home, I threw my arms around her and gave her a kiss. I’d been doing a lot of thinking that afternoon. I couldn’t let the sky do it all on its
own.
    ‘Help yourself and the heavens will help you.’
    I don’t know where I’d heard that phrase. But with all my thinking about the heavens, it came back to me. I hugged my mum as tight as I could so that she might think it was coming
from someone else.
    ‘This is from Dad!’
    She stood there in my arms not knowing what to do. I wasn’t trying to take revenge or hurt her, I just wanted her and Dad to understand that I existed, and if they thought they could just
decide things without me, well, they were wrong.
    ‘Did he get to the cottage all right?’
    ‘Yes, he called. He said you saw each other before he left . . . They’ve had a heap of ice falling there, too, and the power is out . . .’
    I froze for a second. I was almost ashamed to be in a nice warm house when my dad was cold. Served him right for leaving the house, but he didn’t deserve to die frozen and all alone in the
cottage.
    ‘Don’t worry, darling. He has everything he needs. You know him. He’ll use the generator. The one he bought last year to do the renovations this summer, remember? The phone is
working, so you can call him if you want, darling.’
    ‘Later . . .’
    ‘Whenever you want, darling. We’re always here for you.’
    Why was she calling me ‘darling’? She never called me that. I have a name, after all! It really annoyed me, right from the start, and I didn’t feel like being nice at a time
like this. I had a plan.
    ‘Will we go back there, to the cottage?’
    ‘Of course we will, darling . . .’
    I