Tim Fitts
Fiction
Tim Fitts lives and works in Philadelphia with his wife and two children. Fitts teaches in the Liberal Arts Department of the Curtis Institute of Music and serves on the editorial staff of the Painted Bride Quarterly. He is the author of two short story collections, Hypothermia (MadHat Press) and Go Home and Cry for Yourselves (Xavier Review Press 2017). His fiction has been published by journals such as The Gettysburg Review, Granta, Shenandoah, fugue, The Adirondack Review, CutBank, among many others. He is currently working on a novel based loosely on the life of John Hinckley, Jr.
Sea Balloon
True story. We’re fishing out on the Gulf, moving at a serious clip out to a honey hole only discoverable by the perfect harmony of man and computer. It’s cheating, but better than coming home empty handed and hearing about it. On our way out, I see a red balloon on the surface. I joke to my brother that any second a sea turtle is going to choke to death. Turns out, by the end of the joke, the head of a sea turtle, big as a basketball is cutting a straight line to the balloon. Unfortunately, we were traveling at such a clip that I couldn’t have jumped in if I had wanted to, and by the time we got the message to my buddy driving the boat, the balloon and turtle had both blended into the horizon.
When I tell the story, everyone assumes the turtle choked to death. Of course, it did. But the look on the turtle’s face. Joy. Luxury. How else do these moments end?
“ The year before the fishing trip this story was based on, we had gone out on a boat with friends, about ten miles out. All morning just to get out there. The captain takes us to a place that is bonafide, and down below is a whole army of grouper, but nothing will bite. Eventually, I take a break and head up to my backpack for a snack, pulling out a bag of almonds and a hand of bananas. The owner of the boat gives me a look. 'I don’t believe in these types of superstitions, but you have ruined this trip.' ”