‘Cause we’re all in this together
And we love to take a bathPhish, Bathtub Gin
Myrtle and Jimin sadly lost their first nest. But they immediately turned it around and did exactly what the betting odds had predicted: they started another nest without hesitation.
Despite Myrtle’s seasoned approach and the appearance of ease, the effort of laying the first egg in the new nest had left her drained. In need of rejuvenation, she had an easy fix: she made her way to a small pool for a soothing bath.
“Hey, where are you going?!!!” yelled Jimin after her. “You can’t be just strolling around alone with Man up there!!!!”
Jimin, whose initial excitement for the new nest had been overshadowed by the discovery of Man’s egg, was consumed by a day-long bout of jealousy and paranoia.
“Jimin, please. Let it rest for a moment. I just want a moment. Some Myrtle time. Let me be Bathtime Myrtle, and later we can get back to being insanely angry, OK?”
Jimin reluctantly agreed. He loves Myrtle, but more than that, he admires and respects her, which to Jimin, is one thousand times more valuable than love.
And so Myrtle had her moment, even though Jimin, while unusually quiet, continued to mope around exhaustingly.
“He’s a pervert, you know,” Jimin mumbled while she bathed. It was a low blow. Man is surely not a pervert, and Jimin has no reason at all to call him that. But Jimin is now willing to say just about anything that might, even momentarily, soothe his burning rage about Man’s new nest.
What finally did soothe him was watching Myrtle float from the water, refreshed and effortlessly weightless without that egg in her butt. She shook herself dry and started walking back towards the nest, ready to lay the next three eggs.
“You coming?” she said sweetly over her shoulder as she waddled away. “I’m ready now. We can discuss how much you hate Man for the whole evening, my boo.”
“I’ll be up in a second.”
Jimin was no longer thinking about his nest, or Man. All he was thinking about was how nice that bath looked.
It was a precious moment for Jimin, and the first time his mind had been back in his body in a long time. He, too, felt light as a feather, and he even danced like no one was watching, just like he used to as a chick growing up in Plover Park.
But it was short-lived. Because as Jimin exited the water and smiled with pure glee towards the setting sun, he realized Man & his new mate had been sitting up on their new nest watching him the whole time. Man appeared to be pointing his wing towards Jimin, and Man and his mate were both laughing and snickering. Jimin couldn’t make out what they were saying, and we’ll never know for sure, but in Jimin’s mind he heard Man say, “‘Oooohhh, oooo la la…. look at me, I’m Bathtub Jimin! What a dandy dog!”
It appears that’s the last time we’ll see Jimin take a moment to let his guard down for a long, long time.
