‘Aye, Angus.’ she said, with a mechanical smile, followed by a metallic laugh. ‘Welcome home.’
‘Home?’ The word had never sounded so alien.
‘Aye, home.’ She nodded to the golden fish circling about his feet. ‘You’re no home yet, though. No while there’s still soil on your heels.’
He looked down. His feet were brown with dirt, and the toenails had grown long, dark and twisted.
‘Aye,’ she sighed. ‘You’re no aging well. Life’s going by fast.’
Climbing down from her seat, she went to meet him—taking him by the hand.
Together, they walked through vast, glittering corridors. They went on further and further through the maze.
At last, they came to a huge, dark hall. In the centre, a great glowing fish floated in the air. From its mouth came the song of everything.
Angus felt a hand on his back as Mary gave him a push.
‘Dance. Dance with him, Angus.’
Angus stumbled forward, his mind blurred. The fish turned its great dazzling eyes upon him. They were blue as summer sky, flecked with dark blue spots of velvet night.
‘Dance,’ Mary whispered.
Angus stepped closer, and the fish began to move. First it swayed its head, then its fins, then its tail. Then all parts of the great golden fish were in motion. Angus felt his feet gliding this way and that through the water, beating time. The fish drew closer, until their bodies were touching. Together they twisted and turned through a dance so intricate it could never be learnt. Yet Angus knew it. He felt it flowing up from somewhere deep inside. As they moved, Angus realised the fish’s scales were staining his skin. Wherever they touched, they left golden metallic patches.
The dance went on and on. It must have lasted days, but there was no way of knowing. He never tired, and Mary stood, silent—watching. He saw his toenails shrink back to normal, and the dirt on his feet melt away. The more he danced, the less tired he got. His chest grew clear, and his breathing came easier than ever. At last, the fish withdrew, and swam away—high up into the blackness of the towering ceiling.
Mary stepped forward, taking his hand. ‘Aye, now it’s done, my bonny golden laddie.’
Angus saw his reflection in the rippling water. His face and hair were golden, and his eyes glowed a quiet blue.
He turned to her, and smiled.
……………………………………………
Dee Raspin hails from a small coastal village in the Scottish Highlands. A Creative Writing graduate of Napier University, she writes science fiction, horror, and stuff she finds funny. She can be summoned with the words ‘Lovecraft’ and ‘steampunk’, or small offerings of tea and cake.
Interview: Dee Raspin
by Noel Chidwick
Congratulations on becoming the winner of Shoreline of Infinity’s Story Competition for Readers with your story The Great Golden Fish. We thoroughly enjoyed it, an enchanting tale set in the wretched time of the Clearances, of loss, hope and renewal. Obviously Stephen Pickering’s artwork was the source of inspiration, but what drew you to telling your story the way you have done?
Dee Raspin: Many thanks. It’s a huge surprise! I’ve always been too nervous to submit anything, but as soon as I saw Stephen’s artwork I was really excited. I’m from the Highlands myself and I’m also quite into steampunk, so the setting and the steamship were an amazing combination! As soon as I saw the ship, I wanted to know what it was doing in such a traditional scene. The fact it was fish-shaped struck me as interesting, due to the link between fishing and The Clearances. Also, it was strange to see a fish catching a man! It looked so friendly, too—very round and welcoming. I decided it sympathised with all the unwilling would-be-fishers, and wanted to offer them an alternative existence.
Then, I started thinking about the crofter in Stephen’s panels. Before the ship shows up, he seems quite downcast and his croft looks empty and lifeless. I thought he’d lost someone—his wife, perhaps. I tried to picture her. I wanted her to be full of all the missing life. I imagined her as hard working, loud, busy and practical—yet with a softer side and a strange, almost supernatural, understanding. She’d be so robust, even death wouldn’t stop her. I thought she’d be able to anticipate the fish’s intentions, and speak from the afterlife without seeming sinister.
Lastly, I really wanted to know where the ship would take the crofter. I wanted the destination to be as surreal as the ship itself, yet somehow familiar. I decided it would take him home—but not to the home he knew. This would be a place where the dead could be reborn into fresh lives, that time couldn’t touch. The mechanical steamship made me think of robots, and it seemed right that a fish should work the final change.
You say you are quite into steampunk—which books and writers inspire you—steampunk and otherwise?
DR: The first author I really got into was Dickens. I enjoyed his comic characters, and London sounded like this massive labyrinth of mystery and crime. Then I came across Terry Pratchett. I loved the Discworld series: instead of London there was Ankh-Morpork, and all these wonderful inventions and magic. Then, for one reason or another, I ended up reading H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness. After that, I was hooked. Everything about his work struck me as unique. His language was as bizarre as his monsters. It was fun and terrifying at the same time. So those are the authors who’ve probably influenced me the most, because I’ve read them the most!
On the Scottish side, I really enjoyed the traditional atmosphere of Ian Crichton Smith’s works, Neil M. Gunn’s The Silver Darlings, and Burns’s poetry, too. As for modern stuff, I was fascinated by Ken Macleod’s The Night Sessions. The idea of robots finding God really intrigued me—and they had such huge personalities, too. I used to think robots were lifeless, clinical things.
As for books which actually describe themselves as steampunk, one of the first I read was The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man by Mark Hodder. I think it was quite a lucky start for a beginner, because it has just about everything: time travel, ghosts, huge genetically modified creatures, robots, Rasputin—the list goes on! I’m still figuring out what I like, so the short story collection Ghosts by Gaslight: Stories of Steampunk and Supernatural Suspense was quite nice. In particular, I enjoyed Richard Harland’s Bad Thoughts and the Mechanism and Lucius Shepard’s Rose Street Attractors.
As for non-fiction, I thought The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick was an amazing read. It’s a really interesting account of the evolution of science, and the eccentric personalities involved.
As for older things that are bit steampunk, I really enjoyed William Hope Hodgeson’s Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder and Jules Verne in general—especially 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Lastly, one book that always sticks out in my mind is The Third Policeman by Brian O’Nolan. It’s so bizarre, it’s unnerving. It was really inspiring to see fiction go places I’d never imagined.
I’m also not sure which of the above directly influenced my story, but I really enjoyed all of them.
I’d forgotten about the Third Policeman. That is a great book—weird, twisted, a great story and hilarious. Darn: I’ll have to go back and re-read it.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, Dee? What keeps you busy? And writing: what are you currently writing, and what are your writing ambitions?
DR: Hmm, I’m quite into science, I guess. I studied biology at university, and became quite interested in bacteria—it’s weird to think we’re surrounded by all these tiny invisible ecosystems. Anyway, when I graduated, I applied for lab jobs, but they were looking for candidates with industrial experience. So I started volunteering in museums, and working in customer service and retail.
After a while, I thought about going back to university. I wasn’t sure I still wanted to do something science related, though. Eventually, I decided to have a bit of a change. I applied for a place on Napier’s creative writing course, and was lucky enough to be accepted. After graduating, I worked as an admin assistant in a bank. When my contract came to an end, I moved up to the Highlands to visit my family, and started writing whilst applying for jobs—that’s where I am now. I’m, er, taking a creative break!
At the moment, I’m currently working on my first novel. As it stands, it’s the story of a world in which there’s a clockwork mechanism called the Godwork. Society emulates clockwork—individuality is unthinkable: everyone wears the exact same costume, fitted with a unit which converts their speech into identical mechanical tones. Beneath their costumes, each person wears custom stilts—so everyone appears the same height. Even age and gender aren’t acknowledged. When the Godwork begins to rust, and the mechanism starts to fail, pure chaos creeps in. So it’s about oppressive order, versus destructive chaos and the effects on individual identity. It still needs an awful lot of development, but I’m quite enjoying piecing it together. I’m working on a few short stories, too.
Dee, it’s been a pleasure to chat with you. Congratulations again—and good luck with your writing!
