Our goldfish friends Tolstoy and Nemo regularly lose patience with me if I let their bowl go an extra day(or three) between cleanings. They're metro sexual goldfish.
Lately I think they've even been swearing at me.
Possibly issuing tiny pursed-lipped threats.
The other day after cleaning their bowl, I asked them to forgive me. Sorry guys, I said. I've been kind of insensitive about the whole algae-poop water thing..I'll try to do better. Thanks for not dying.
Looking at them swimming in the crystal clear habitat I had provided, it seemed clear that for the time being all was well in the area of fish-human relations....
So imagine my surprise the following morning when I was greeted by a murky, mucky mess. So cloudy that I could hardly see the(no doubt cursing) fish. How on earth?!, I thought...I just cleaned the damn thing yesterday! Didn't I? ...
Then another element of the odd scene before me crept into my awareness: the water was teal. Murky, mucky, cloudy...teal.
Kind of like the color....I turned slowly to look at the remnants of last night's play dough session on the kitchen table.
Yup. a match. I peered into the water and was able to just make out the lethargic fish and a dissolving ball of teal..
Immediately I had that sinking feeling - you know - when your child is possibly, for the first time, responsible for the death of a pet(two pets)..
After talking with the daughter who was responsible(and who just wanted the bowl to be prettier for the fish), I turned my attention to the plan: what would I do in the very likely event that these fish died?
I cleaned the bowl and changed their water before placing them back in their home. I swear they were sort of green-tinged, but otherwise, none the worse for the wear(so far).
The daughters are relieved(as am I. Not just relieved that the fish are ok, but that for the near future, it seems their profane rants will be deflected away from me and all insults hurled in the general direction of their almost-killers..)
As for our toilet, it's the place that I dump the algae-poop water when cleaning the bowl. Just seems like the obvious thing to do..
this time I accidentally poured without caution, sending a stone(a beautiful stone from my friend Jen) straight into the jaws of the porcelain god.
So the next time you come over and need a little inspiration..you could spend some time talking with the Fish of Miraculous Fortitude, or standing over my toilet looking at a stone marked with one word: Believe.
