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ONE FISH FOR THREE
Episode 3: The First Ration
Monday morning has come. The seals are waiting for their first ration of haddock and halibut.
NORA: What’s gonna happen now, Siggi?
SIGGI: Whaddya mean, Nora? They’re gon’ give us our food… in rations, remember?
One of the workers, Henri, steps out to the shore with two buckets of fish. He directs his gaze to Bjorn and struts up to him, while the latter chooses to hide his anger as much as he can.
BJORN: Mornin’, Henri.
HENRI: Good morning, Bjorn. Time for breakfast. Eat up.
Henri throws the contents of one of the buckets on the ground. Bjorn approaches them and starts munching on the fish... and finishes it up quicker than usual. He prepares to say something about the food being less than usual, but doesn’t. Then, the former walks up to another pinniped by the name of Elda. She waddles over to Henri to receive her ration.
HENRI: Good morning, Elda.
ELDA: … Morning.
HENRI: Time for breakfast.
Henri empties the other bucket of fish right in front of Elda. She looks at the pile and opens her mouth to speak.
ELDA: Gee, thanks. We will definitely not starve with this much food, y’know?
HENRI: Hey, I don’t make the rules here. You better eat up.
ELDA: Nobody said you make the rules, Henri. And don’t you dare order me around like I’m your servant.
HENRI: Then why are you throwing words at me as if it’s my fault or something?
ELDA: Because you’re the one giving me the fucking food. You are responsible for feeding me and every other seal in here.
HENRI: Just fucking eat, already! I got more seals to feed.
ELDA: Ughhhh… fine!
Elda finally starts gobbling on her ration, almost as if someone is trying to take it from her. She keeps staring angrily at Henri, even after she finishes her dose… terrifyingly fast. Now Henri refills his buckets and moves on to Else. The latter is just standing there, staring blankly into his eyes. She hopes to at least be given sufficient amounts of food due to her health problems.
ELSE: Good morning, Henri.
HENRI: Morning, Else. Here’s your food.
Henri dumps the fish on the ground, but he lingers because Else is not approaching the food.
HENRI: What’s up, Else? You don’t want to eat again?
ELSE: No, Henri. It’s just that… this pile seems too small.
HENRI: Yeah, I know, but if I give you more, I’m gonna get in trouble with the Supervisor, so you better eat up.
ELSE:… Ok.
Else hesitates before finally waddling over to the pile of dumped fish and starts chewing on it slowly. She quietly observes the other seals being fed by Henri and the other workers on site. One of them, Helga, is currently feeding Nora.
HELGA: Here’s your food, Nora.
Nora looks at the insufficient ration and prepares to say something, but to no avail. She comes closer to the pile of dumped haddock and halibut and opens her mouth to speak.
NORA: Thanks, Helga… but I don’t think this’ll be enough.
That was all she could say in the moment. She knew 5 kilograms of fish wouldn’t be enough given her nutritional deficiencies, and yet, she chose to keep confrontation minimal.
HELGA: Well, that’s all I’m allowed to give you. Can’t do anything about it.
NORA: Fine.
The thought that what was given to her wasn’t enough keeps racing Nora’s mind, making her gnaw slowly on the fish to somehow trick herself into thinking otherwise. Siggi watches her, internally enraged at everyone responsible for his sister and other pinnipeds being underfed. Helga walks up to him and empties the bucket consisting of 4 kilograms of fish right in front of him.
HELGA: Here, Siggi. Enjoy your meal.
SIGGI: Enjoy my meal, my ass! How can I or anyone in this goddamn reserve enjoy anythin’ y’all give us when everybody knows damn well it ain’t enough for a fuckin’ baby, let alone a goddamn adult!
HELGA: Don’t yell at me, Siggi. We’re just regular workers. We can’t do anything about what our higher-ups decide.
SIGGI (muttering to himself): Fuck you, Sigurdsson.
Before rage completely takes him over, Siggi chooses to sneakily give a part of his ration to Nora. He watches protectively over her as she munches on the extra food, fighting the urge to explode in extreme anger at everyone responsible for whatever might happen due to these policies. Now that the workers have completed the morning feeding, they all move to the indoor sections of the reserve. The seals all form a big group and relocate themselves next to a gray, moss-covered boulder on the seashore.
ELDA: I don’t understand why they won’t just give us more food! Did we do something wrong? What the hell was Prof thinking only giving us 4 kilos of fish? Does he all of a sudden want us to suffer?
MAGDA: Yeah, I’ve been thinking that too. It really feels like the Professor doesn’t love us anymore, but I dunno. Siggi told me a few days back that it wasn’t really him behind it.
SIGGI: Guys, I’ve told y’all about it. I know Sigurdsson’s behind this shitshow. I just know. He’s coercin’ Prof to feed us less to save money.
MATTHIAS: But how can we know for sure? It’s not like we can waddle to his office and ask him why he hates us so much.
SIGGI: I’m tellin’ y’all Sigurdsson did this. Remember that time he didn’t want us eatin’ octopus ‘cause it was supposedly way too expensive?
MATTHIAS: Why does that matter when Prof shut that down a long time ago?
SIGGI: Because I’m tryna tell everyone here that it ain’t all Prof’s fault that we don’t got enough to eat.
ELDA: Well, if this Sigurdsson guy hates us so much, then why does he keep paying for us to stay? Why don’t they just let us out in the wild?
NORA: Maybe he was tryna find a compromise so that Prof wouldn’t have to close this place down. Maybe… maybe Prof doesn’t hate us. Perhaps… he still loves us like he always did…Siggi might’ve been right about one thing. It really might have been Sigurdsson behind this. Prof would never wanna abandon this place. Whenever he sees us, he always looks really happy… almost as if we’re the only thing left in his life he can look forward to.
ELSE: I feel a part of me wants to give up. I can’t bear to think about this anymore. Do you all know what this means for us? What it means for the pups in our circle? If this keeps on going for long, we might die! I know I’m not strong enough to do something, but… I hope we can work this one out together.
Else’s words lingered heavily in the pinnipeds’ minds. Today, they are gathering not yet to protest, but to discuss and to find a solution. They feel that the worst is yet to come…