When Dylan turned 3 he was feeling very lonely sleeping alone in his room at night. I bought him a fish which he named Finn (that's what Bob the Builder's fish is named). Finn is a Beta and they are hearty fish. He has survived over feeding, under feeding, dirty water, and a move up to Seattle in a red sippy cup. Finn is now 2 1/2 at least. Who knows how old fish in the pet store are? He took a rapid turn for the worse this past week. For a few weeks I noticed he has been resting at the bottom of the fish bowl a lot. I changed his water, which usually perks him right up, but not much changed. Dylan wanted to bring Finn for his show and tell day, and I figured that this might be the last chance so I said it was okay. Then Finn started to look worse. Instead of just resting on the bottom of the tank he was resting sort of sideways on the bottom of the tank. I warned Dylan that Finn might not last the night and he needed to be brave if Finn died. He was an old fish and had lived much longer than a normal fish could expect. Also, what was his back up show and tell in case Finn did die?
Well, Finn lasted the night and we took him to school where the teacher had to try to figure out what to tell the kids if the fish went belly up during class. The newest sign of fish distress was Finn would very suddenly and frantically start to swim in circles, turning sort of upside down as he went. Then he would settle back down on the bottom of the tank. We kept Finn down in the kitchen with us all evening, keeping an eye on him and tapping the tank occasionally to see if he had expired. Dylan, very touchingly, asked if we could take some pictures of Finn before he dies. So after dinner we got out the camera and tried to capture the true spirit of Finn. It's kind of hard to take a picture of a really small fish in a plastic fish tank.
So now that we've tried to prepare Dylan for this brush with mortality, I just know this fish is going to hold out on the brink of death for weeks! Well, Finn, while you're still with us, thanks for being a good and friendly fish. Hope there's a nice fish tank waiting for you in Fishy Heaven.
Well, Finn lasted the night and we took him to school where the teacher had to try to figure out what to tell the kids if the fish went belly up during class. The newest sign of fish distress was Finn would very suddenly and frantically start to swim in circles, turning sort of upside down as he went. Then he would settle back down on the bottom of the tank. We kept Finn down in the kitchen with us all evening, keeping an eye on him and tapping the tank occasionally to see if he had expired. Dylan, very touchingly, asked if we could take some pictures of Finn before he dies. So after dinner we got out the camera and tried to capture the true spirit of Finn. It's kind of hard to take a picture of a really small fish in a plastic fish tank.
So now that we've tried to prepare Dylan for this brush with mortality, I just know this fish is going to hold out on the brink of death for weeks! Well, Finn, while you're still with us, thanks for being a good and friendly fish. Hope there's a nice fish tank waiting for you in Fishy Heaven.
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