Remarkably Bright Creatures

Tova Sullivan, the elderly cleaning woman for the Sowell Bay Aquarium, works to remove dried chewing gum from the floor. As she goes through her route, she pauses to reflect on the bronze sea-lion statue her son played on as a child before continuing and greeting each sea animal in turn. Marcellus hides from sight. When Tova enters the office of Terry, the aquarium's director, she discovers Marcellus caught in power cords. Although he is fearful of her, Marcellus allows Tova to free him. Then he wraps one of his tentacles around her arm, holding her a moment before returning to his tank. He leaves small round marks on Tova’s skin. Tova finishes her cleaning and then sits beside the ocean, where she imagines her son Erik beneath the waves.

Marcellus reflects on the food he’s served in the aquarium. Unsatisfied, he often ventures out at night to steal food from the nearby tanks. Tonight, he found Terry’s leftovers in his office, but claiming them almost cost him his life. If Tova hadn’t arrived he would have died.

Tova meets with her group of senior friends known as the Knit-Wits, who used to be a knitting club but are now a social group. The other women are concerned about the marks on Tova’s arm. Tova decides not to tell them the truth about Marcellus, instead saying the marks were caused by a cleaning accident. Her friends offer to help her financially if her job is too dangerous, but she declines. They begin talking about their families, and Tova excuses herself to reflect on her own broken family; Erik disappeared around his 18th birthday and, after an abandoned boat was discovered, and it was determined that Erik died by suicide. Tova never believed it. After the meeting, she drives home and finds a voice message from the retirement home where her brother Lars has been living. Tova knows without listening to the message that Lars is dead.

Speaking to the reader, Marcellus explains how he escapes from his cage: He can stretch to fit through the tiny opening around the water pump. Once he is free, he can remain out of water for 18 minutes before he experiences “The Consequences” (23), or potentially fatal dehydration. He explains the different tanks around him, including the dangerous wolf eels, sea nettles, ribbon worms, and sea cucumbers—the latter are his favorite. He is careful not to eat too much and draw unwanted attention. He remembers a time when he stayed out too long and nearly died because he trusted a door to remain propped open. Marcellus asks the reader not to reveal his secrets to Terry.

Cameron Cassmore arrives at his Aunt Jeanne’s mobile home to help her with her garden. While there, he encounters Aunt Jeanne’s landlord investigating a neighbor’s complaint about snakes in the garden; Cameron proves the neighbor was lying by disproving her complaint with trivia he learned about snakes. He intimidates the landlord into leaving. After, Cameron works in Aunt Jeanne’s garden before sitting down to have coffee. He looks around the crowded trailer and reflects on his relationship with his aunt. She raised him in a clean, organized house before she was injured while trying to break up a fight and sold her home to pay for medical care. Aunt Jeanne asks Cameron about his job and relationship. He recently lost his job, the latest in a string of several.

He remembers Aunt Jeanne taking him in after his mother abandoned him. At school he became friends with Elizabeth and Brad, who are now married and expecting their first child. Cameron never knew his father. As Cameron leaves Aunt Jeanne’s, he finds a prescription for a chlamydia treatment and has an embarrassing conversation with his aunt about her relations. She tries to give Cameron a box of his mother's things, but he isn’t interested.

Terry and an examiner, Dr. Santiago, lead Marcellus into a bucket of anesthetic liquid. Marcellus remembers how the sensation used to be frightening, but now he enjoys it. They weigh Marcellus and find he’s gained a lot of weight. Terry says he’ll check for any changes in Marcellus’s diet.

Tova visits the Shop-Way grocery store that Ethan Mack owns. Ethan expresses his condolences for Tova’s brother, and Tova considers Ethan’s propensity for gossip. She reflects on her relationship with her brother, which began to deteriorate after Erik’s death. Ethan tells her she can ask him for anything she needs, and Tova leaves the store. At home, she watches the news and puts her groceries away but is interrupted by a noise at the door. She discovers a stray cat. Tova feeds the cat a casserole one of the Knit-Wits brought her and goes back inside.

Ethan takes a smoke break outside his shop and thinks about Tova. He is concerned about her shopping alone late in the evenings. The foggy weather reminds Ethan of his home in Scotland, which he left 40 years ago to be with an American girl. They took a road trip from New York to Washington, but the girl left and Ethan stayed and worked as a longshoreman. After his retirement, he started working at Shop-Way and quickly bought the business. A drunk couple enters the shop, and Ethan remembers the way his sister was killed by a drunk driver many years ago. He worries about Tova but is cautious about chasing another woman.

Marcellus reflects on the other, less developed animals in the aquarium and his own loneliness. He thinks about the way humans keep secrets and about how the ocean keeps secrets too. One secret in particular he’s held on to for a long time.

Cameron sits with the box of his mother’s things, which Aunt Jeanne forced onto him. His girlfriend Katie returns home, and they’re both uncertain as to why the other isn’t at work. Katie reminds him she has a dentist’s appointment; Cameron stumbles his way through explanations until finally admitting he got fired. Katie storms off, and Cameron contemplates the discrepancies in their lives. When she gets back, she begins throwing Cameron’s things out the window. They argue and she tells him to leave.

Cameron sits outside on the box of his mother’s things and waits for Brad, who picks him up and drives him to his and Elizabeth’s house. Their house is wealthy and modern, making Cameron feel more bitter. He considers his options. He plans to ask a local bartender, Al, to rent his apartment above the bar. They know him well because Cameron and Brad’s band, Moth Sausage, often plays there. Brad awkwardly announces he’s leaving the band because of his new baby.

Marcellus considers the artistry of the unique human fingerprints left on the glass of his tank and their similarity to the specificity of keys.