Chapter 6: Mijbil the Otter Fog

Maxwell booked a flight to Paris, and from there, he would fly to England. As British airlines do not allow pets on board, the airline authorities insisted that Mijbil should be packed into an eighteen-inch square box to be carried on the floor near Maxwell’s feet. Hence, he got a box made an hour before they started, and he put Mij into the box so that he would become accustomed to it. He then quickly rushed to get a meal.

The box was lined with a metal sheet, but Mij wasn’t feeling comfortable inside the box and tried to escape from it. In his attempt to escape, Mijbil tore into the metal lining of the box, hurt himself and started bleeding.

Maxwell knew that there was no other way he could carry Mij to London, so he put the otter back into the box. He was anxious and felt sorry by looking at the otter’s condition as he hurt himself while trying to escape from the box.

The air hostess was very friendly and showed sympathy to Maxwell after listening to his story. She respected his feelings and concern about the incident with the box and gave him permission to take the otter out of the box and keep his pet on his knee. Hearing this, the author developed a profound admiration for the kind lady and referred to her as “the very queen of her kind”.

As soon as the box was opened, Mij jumped out of it. He disappeared in no time and ran all over the place, scaring other passengers on the flight. The otter created a lot of chaos in the airplane and the co-passengers got scared looking at the little creature. Out of fear, a woman stood up on her seat as he went beneath the legs of a portly white-turbaned Indian. Maxwell tried to get hold of Mij, but failed. The air hostess assured Maxwell that she would find the otter for him. Soon enough, Mijbil returned to the author, clung to his knee, and began to nuzzle his face and neck.