I am Rachael

The tiny fish enjoy themselves
in the sea.
Quick little splinters of life,
their little lives are fun to them
in the sea. - D.H. Lawrence

I have tiny cells in my skin called chromatophores that change colour when I feel the need. This means that I can camouflage myself in my underwater environment or express my mood to those around me. At the moment I'm a fetching shade of brick red. That's a happy colour.

I have a short lifespan of around two years, but I don't let that get me down. I shine on like a crazy diamond!

I like rum. But it's hard to get rum under the sea, even though I have dextrous prehensile tentacles.

I can grow to lengths of up to 1.5 metres, but I'm told I carry it well.

Sometimes, after a meal of small fish and crustaceans, I have feverish dreams where I'm a shortsighteed postgrad living in the thriving metropolis of Melbourne and studying, uhm, things. I imagine taking pictures of things and occasionally, badly, writing poems about them, but then I wake up and I'm glad it was all just a dream.

I can squeeze into very small spaces. Wanna see?

*The Author slithers into a discarded wine bottle, one tentacle plaintively hanging out the neck. Realising she still has company, she waves goodbye from her green, glassy home.*