Lou the Shrimp - Canto II: The Troublemaker
“It says: ‘Any shrimp found outside of their burrows after hours will be seized.’ I told you that little brat would bring us trouble.”
O Laurie, sing through me. Now that I’ve had a sandwich and a nap, I raise my antennae to you to receive your divinely constructed and grammatically impeccable retelling of the second of five parts of the story of Lou. Lou the lonely. Lou the dark. Lou the troublemaker.
And so Lou, an orphan from a distant land, found himself in Estuaria, raised by the Wigglers. Respected and loved by almost everyone who knew him, he still felt different. Followed as a leader by many, he still felt alone. Revered by old and young alike, he still felt a purpose unfulfilled.
“Get out of the way, shrimp! Can’t you see a Prawn is coming through?” The rough jab from the guard Prawn’s cheliped sent Lou reeling. He watched from the cloud of mud he stirred up the procession of Penae Secundus. Secundus was followed closely by his son and heir, Terterus. What is it about Terterus that fixes Lou’s attention? Something strange. Something wrong. Something familiar.
And so Lou found what he thought was his purpose: to discover and expose the mystery of Terterus.
Terterus, known as Terterus the Robed, had never been seen in public without his signature royal red robe. Even Penae Secundus only wore his robe to important ceremonies. Of course there were rumors about the reason. From the very likely, that Terterus was simply eager to remind Estuaria who would one day rule, to the outlandish, that beneath the robe there was no carapace, just an exposed ostium.
How could Lou get near Terterus? Any time the Prawns came by they shoved the shrimp out of the way.
And so Lou came up with a plan. It seemed like a terrible plan, but somehow Lou knew it would work.
And so the next morning Estuaria woke up to find a new mystery. “Who has painted these symbols? What is the meaning of a triangle with an ‘L’ in the middle?” Across Estuaria, mostly on the walls of the imperial Penae residence itself, the Triangle-L had been blazoned. Only old Malaco, seeing the symbols from the tiny barred window in the royal dungeon, chuckled knowingly, rattling the chains that held him fast to the wall.
“There will be a strict curfew in Estuaria until this vandal is caught.” The edict was signed by Secundus himself.
Each day The Prawns placed stricter sanctions on the shrimp. Each night the Triangle-L’s multiplied. The Pratols (Prawn police) grew in number until in every street, down every alley, on every rooftop you could see them.
“You see?” cried Mr. Fringe, “I told you no good would come of keeping that outsider. Now The Prawns are going to find him and make an example of all of us.”
But Lou’s followers, for by now he had many, kept a close eye on Mr. Fringe.
Then, on the sixth night of the symbols, Lou called a meeting of twelve of his closest allies. “My friends, Joey, Sam, Betty, Norman, all of you, tomorrow I will be caught. Do not gasp or skitter. Do not cry. This is part of my plan. I must be caught to fulfill my purpose. While I am gone, you need to take on the mantle of leadership of the Shrimp. Whatever you hear about me, whatever I say or do, no matter how terrible it seems, remember I do it for you.”
With that, Lou left the little table, hardly having touched his food, picked up a bucket of paint and a brush. In the wee hours of the morning he swam right to the front of the imperial palace to paint his final Triangle-L on the palace steps.
Here he was caught. Here he was beaten. The alarm was sent up. Torches were lit. A crowd gathered, then parted as Secundus himself, in his nightcap and gown, approached the wretched shrimp. “Who is this that has disturbed our fair city. What is this upstart that has roused me from my sleep?”
Barely able to speak through swollen mandibles, Lou lifted his head to say, “I am Lou.”
“Throw him in the dungeon. We’ll decide his fate at a more reasonable hour.” Terterus, close behind his father, is said to have stared at the beaten shrimp unblinking until the dungeon door boomed shut.
“Now, fair citizens of Estuaria, go. Go, sleep in comfort. Your protector has caught the vandal. The city is safe.”
Joey, having followed Lou to the palace in secret, was about to rush back to the outskirts when he stopped, frozen, staring at the last symbol that Lou painted, the symbol on the steps of the palace. For the first time, he saw it from a different angle. For the first time, he saw it for what it was. Not a triangle with an ‘L’ in it. It was “The Shark’s Tooth.”
“It is truly the legend.”
Next Issue:
Canto III: The Prisoner
|
Tales From the Floor
Yeah, it's a floor, but it's also a person. Tales From the Floor Kidz Korner
What are you waiting for, kids? This column was written with YOU in mind! Kidz Korner, Installment One
Things Prince Harry Finds Funny While Stoned
My gardener's last name is Gardener.
|
