Fish

So, many of you may have heard of my friend Bobbie. Perhaps you had the opportunity to meet her. She is, to saythe least, a very unique individual. She is one of those people who constantly live in a soap opera. Never is her life without drama. This creates excitement and interest in what she experiences. I think she is one of those people that seeks out those who will create a certian element of uncertianty or confrentation in life in order to makethings interesting. We all know someone like this. Bobbie is mine. And I am thankful for the opportunity to have her in my life. She is a great friend and we can talk about anything. She is super swell.
From day one, she has been talking about futhering her schooling in Carbondale, IL. This has been at least 3 years inthe making. As of this weekend... or maybe next weekend (It’s Bobbie... you never know) she will finally be movingdown to Carbondale to finish off her dream of becoming a record exec. Or at least having the qualifications to do so. Bobbie is one of those people who live in a petting zoo. She had 2 cats, a dog and who knows what else inaquariums. I seem to remember her talking about shrimp, turtles and fish. Needless to say, in her move, she didn’thave room for everybody, so she gave me an aquarium. In all my years on my own, I have never had the opporutnity to have a pet. I have ALWAYS wanted a dog, but each appartment that I’ve been at, they have not permitted pets. However, fish are always welcome. They don’t mess upthe carpet and are quiet.
So, I filled the tank and went with her to the pet aisle(s) of Wal-Mart to pick out some fish. I ended up coming home with 9 fish. Yup. 9 fish in a 10 gallon tank. Nearly one for each gallon. Perhaps that is why eight of the nine have died. Yup. In nearly 3 weeks, 8 out of the 9 are gone. I don’t know what I did. The first one committed suicide by jumping outof the tank the first night. I call him Kurt. (Think about it... Think about it... Got it? Ok, we will continue.)
The rest started dropping like flies. I have no idea, but each day it seemed that there were less and less fish in mytank. I started naming them Tu-Pac and Notorious B.I.G. as they were picked off by the other fish... or so I assumed. I wonder if the water was bad for them or something. Who knows. The autopsys were inconclusive.
Then there were two left. One with two black spots on his white body. (His name was “spots.” Give me a break, I’m creative for roughly 9 hours a day, I can’t be at all times!) The other was a sucker fish that ate the algee off of my tank and other things. Essentially this fish was a bottom feeder. Based on this, I named it “Chris,” because I have yet to meet a Chris that hasn’t sucked the life out of me.
Well, Chris died a few weekends ago and we are left with “Spots.” I think he’s assuming that he has won some sort of Survivor challenge. Instead he has just won a new collection of friends, because I have plans to head back to the store after I move. So, to all the expectant or recent parents, beware. I have a tendancy to kill off those whom I’m taking care of!