Fish!
Back in my freshman year at Case, Mike and I had a pre-date. (We weren't going out yet, and I didn't have a clue he was interested. We had the same group of friends and ended up hanging out a lot.) One of the fraternities hosted a "Carnival Night" at their house, and Mike and I ended up attending together. I made Mike play games and win prizes for me. The result: I went home with two goldfish named Zacharias and Bob.
Zack and Bob didn't last very long-- they might have survived a month. But somehow, they still manage to haunt me...
Autumn's school had "Sloppy Joe Day" this past Friday. If you've missed the description during past years, the eighth graders serve sloppy joes and host a bunch of carnival games in the parking lot. They use the money they raise to purchase a gift to the school from the graduating class.
This is the first year since Autumn has been attending Our Lady of Peace that I was unable to take the time off to attend the event with her. I was not worried, though. I made arrangements with her best friend's mom, and knew she would be well taken care of.
After picking Autumn up, Mike called me at work on Friday evening to inform me that "Bob and 5 of his friends are here." Apparently, courtesy of Sloppy Joe Day, Autumn brought home 6 goldfish.
We put the goldfish in a big glass bowl we have that holds about 1.5 gallons. Bought a little jar of fish food from the local grocery store. Figured that should be enough to keep the goldfish reasonably happy & healthy for the month or so I expected them to survive.
Only, after a few hours, all the fish were jumping to the surface of the water GASPING FOR AIR. Too many fish in too little water = suffocating fish. Their gills were pumping very hard and they kept gulping air because there wasn't enough O2 in the water. The poor little things were suffering and unhappy. We changed the water a few times that first night, but it would only help for a little while.
So on Saturday, we visited PetSmart. Seventy dollars later, we now have a 10 gallon aquarium set up in our living room- along with the filter, water conditioner, and live plants to boot. It's actually quite pretty. Once the fish were transplanted to the new aquarium, they were much happier. All are breathing easier and even look like they enjoy exploring their new home.
All's well that ends well... but, wait! There's more:
Last night, as we were feeding the fish, I noticed that one of them looked odd. The fish we had dubbed "Thing 3" looked funny-- I thought maybe the scales were peeling. Upon closer examination, it appeared that it had little white worms protruding from its skin in various places. We immediately removed Thing 3 from the tank and put it in a separate container. Performed some internet searches, and decided that the fish most likely had "anchor worms".
Mike, ever the good Daddy, went out to run to the pet store to try to find some anti-parasite treatment for the water. During this time Autumn had gotten herself ready for bed. I went to tuck her in and say goodnight, to find her crying quietly. (She usually sobs very loudly in an effort to gain sympathy and attention.) In the dark, I wasn't even sure she was crying at first. Then she says to me, "I don't want my fish to die. I know Thing 3 is sick and probably won't make it, but I'm afraid the worms fell off and are going to kill all the other fish too."
She was thoroughly heartbroken over these fish we had home for just over 48 hours. I gave her what reassurances I could, and told her we were getting the medicine for the fish. Of course, it was Sunday night, and all the stores had been closed. We were unable to obtain the water treatement until this morning. By this time, Thing 3 seemed to far gone to save. But we'll see. The others all look strong and healthy, so I don't think they got infected. They should live to become big goldfish.
Some of my thoughts after this adventure:
1. We are soft-hearted suckers. I imagine the fate of dozens of goldfish that other proud schoolagers carried home: put into a little bowl on the shelf with minimal care to dies a week or so later, flushed down the toilet, fed to the pet cat...
2. Who ever decided that live goldfish made good game prizes anyway?
3. Do we have enough animals in my home to charge a viewing admission yet?...