The Meadow Annual Literary Arts Journal 2018

he would wrap this body in the fish’s scaly, and now desiccated and colorless, skin. Fins would then be applied and stabilized with clothespins until they dried. Then came the paint, blasted on with an air hose, one mossy green coat after the next, grad- ually fading in shade from dorsal to ventral, and punctuated by a lateral line midway along the fish’s broad flanks. It was always black, the lateral line, and looked something like an electrocardiogram reading, which suggested a heartbeat inside. Even more realistic, however, were the eyes. They went on last. Large, dark, bulbous eyes that made these lifeless fish look like they might swim away when you stepped close to examine them, and which kept customers bringing fish to my father year after year. The female’s head wobbles when I pick her up off the shelf, and with my free hand I brace it to keep it secure. Briefly, I wonder if the pair has ever seen water, fifty years ago, seventy-five years ago, back when they were new. Or have they spent their lives keeping some deskbound executive company, or a shelf of books upright, or a sporting club den authentically decorated and appealing to its members? Despite her wobbly head, her body is solid save for a few superficial gouges along her flanks, which, if anything, give her more character and charm. As I place her back on the shelf I notice her mate has a price tag dangling from his neck. I hesitate. These old decoys can fetch a lot of money, almost certainly more than I can pay, even if I decide I want to bring them home today. I study the drake, his elegant bill curled into the slightest grin, his mus- cular breast and broad back, and especially his vibrant brown eyes, which seem to see through mine and into some forgotten recess in my heart. Finally, I reach for the tag and flip it over. What I notice, even before the price itself, is the word each . And I wonder: who would buy one of these old decoys without taking home the other? After all these years, who could separate the The Meadow 193