Editor’s note: Originally published June 12, 2018. Updated July 1, 2021.

Fish Boi was born with arms and legs instead of fins. Big problem.

His parents didn’t know where to buy pants, shirts or shoes. 

The lonely bipedal fish was bullied on the playground. “Nice legs!” taunted his peers as they swam past Fish Boi slowly walking on the floor of the Salish Sea. 

One day he was watching the Tour de France on TV. “That’s the life for me,” he said out loud. 

“You’ll never ride a bicycle,” said his uncle. “You don’t have lungs, you have gills. Don't be a dummy."

Fish Boi began scouting the city wharf. One day he found a child’s Schwinn that had been dumped in the water.

He began to pedal it at night, making short trips onto land near Secret Beach. He held his breath as he rode up and down the sidewalks of Marine View Drive.

The night air felt exhilarating on his scales. “This is it. I was born to bike,” he told himself, shifting gears. "This is totally it."

Over time he began to adapt to dry land. He was able to hold his breath for ten minutes at a time, then fifteen, then twenty. When he got tired he splashed himself with saltwater from a bottle.

One day he decided to "live in Everett"... forever. He had adapted to this new urban climate, having morphed his physiology by sheer willpower.

Life on land took some time to get used to. He was a little freaked out by the whole fish and chips thing.

Today he pedals up and down Hewitt Avenue, proudly waving the hometown flag.

This is how Fish Boi came to be the mascot of Live in Everett. He reminds us that Everett is place where you have margin to be yourself, that dreams can be realized in a scrappy mill town.

Good things happen here.

Fish Boi will tell you.

You too can proudly wave the hometown flag wearing your own Fish Boi shirt. Check out our Teepublic shop.

Richard Porter writes for Live In Everett.