1.
Once upon a time, the Little Mermaid came into Red Lobster. She came into Red Lobster sad and wobbly. Sad, because she missed her family and friends far away under the sea. Wobbly, because she was now an ex-Mermaid, and had still not quite gotten the hang of legs.
The Little Mermaid came into Red Lobster every Thursday. She never ordered anything, never requested a table. She just loitered in the lobby, by the aquariums, and sang to the lobsters. She had a good singing voice, but, still, customers complained. We told her she could sing to the lobsters all she wanted if she bought something—a Caesar salad, crab cakes, mozzarella cheese sticks, a cup of clam chowder—but she never did. I think she had money troubles. The market price of lobster was then around twenty-seven dollars a pound.
Our manager, Farnsworth, instituted a strict zero tolerance policy toward the Mermaid. He warned new hires about her during induction training, posted “For the Enjoyment of Customers Only” signs on the lobster tanks, stapled a poorly taken photo of the Mermaid to a corkboard in the staff room. But, if he wasn’t around, and no customers complained, we left the Mermaid alone, let her sing to the lobsters for as long as she wanted. I think she wrote the songs herself. They were extremely sad, and many of them seemed like they were meant to be duets, presumably with the lobsters, but when it came time for the lobsters to sing all we heard was silence. This made her sad songs even sadder.
FICTION BY MATT GAJEWSKI: The final installment of the serialized story
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MT. OLYMPUS, MIAMI BY MATT GAJEWSKI: Part six in the summer serial
MT. OLYMPUS, MIAMI BY MATT GAJEWSKI: Part five in the summer serial
MT. OLYMPUS, MIAMI BY MATT GAJEWSKI: Part four in the summer serial
FICTION BY MATT GAJEWSKI: In part three of the summer serial, the Oracle becomes an online advice columnist
FICTION BY MATT GAJEWSKI: Part two in the Mt. Olympus Miami summer serial
FICTION BY MATT GAJEWSKI: Part one in a new summer serial
BY MATT GAJEWSKI AND ZACH DANESH: The eleventh chapter of the Lewis and Clark tale, before the story breaks for summer hiatus
BY MATT GAJEWSKI AND ZACH DANESH: Our heroes travel to a parallel universe
A COMIC BY MATT GAJEWSKI AND ZACH DANESH: Part nine of the Lewis and Clark saga
A COMIC BY MATT GAJEWSKI AND ZACH DANESH: Part eight in the Lewis and Clark series
A COMIC BY MATT GAJEWSKI AND ZACH DANESH: Part seven in the Lewis and Clark series
A COMIC BY MATT GAJEWSKI AND ZACH DANESH: Part six in the Lewis and Clark series
A COMIC BY MATT GAJEWSKI AND ZACH DANESH: Part five in the Lewis and Clark series
Paul M Davis