Eh? “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!”
For Christmas, I got a fish. Now, it has always been my belief that any type of pet are terrible to give as a present, even if said thing only requires feeding and cleaning out the tank. While I’ve always vaguely thought about getting a fish, there’s a difference between a vague thought and actually getting one. However, I couldn’t refuse a present, that would be rude. Thus I brought a fish from the pet store, and Little Antonio was born! Well, maybe he was born before then, but he was truly born in my eyes!
Now, while I had no problem feeding Little Antonio once a day, cleaning his tank was another problem. It only took a few minutes, but yet I still viewed it as a pain. It was one of those things which I told myself to do tomorrow, but when tomorrow came I said I would do it the next day and so on and so forth. It was about three weeks since I last cleaned the tank, more or less, and when I went to feed him, he was wasn’t moving.
On TV shows and stuff when fish die you see them float upside-down in the middle of the tank. That is a lie. In reality dead fish float on the side close to the top of the tank. “Little Antonio!” I shouted tapping on the glass. The fish turned upside-down momentarily before going sideways again. I told my mom the grave news. She said that we would take care of the remains tomorrow. Little Antonio’s tank was right by my computer. Unable to look at the body for the next hour I would remain awake, I covered the tank with tissues.
But wait! Before I can return to my computer activities, a thought flashed through my mind. I killed a fish! I had killed something! Oh sure I happily squashed flies with my bare hands before, but fishes are different! Betta fish are supposed to live for 3 years but Little Antonio's lifetime was not even 6 month. Being the reason of death for something you raised for 6 months is different than killing a stupid fly which everyone kills.
I am a murderer! But wait, it was only a fish, right? Fish die all the time! But wait, was it really only a fish? I mean, fish breath, fish swim, I even saw a little bit of a personality in Little Antonio, he had to suffer slowly suffocating to death in his own feces. How is killing a fish different from killing a person? We’re all living things, so then killing living things makes me a murderer! This is fish abuse! Why do people get arrested for killing dogs but not for killing fish? They’re both beloved pets!
I will never get a fish again. I can’t get another fish as I will kill it again, and I can’t live with the guilt that I have killed two fish. I’ll already suffer killing only 1!
The next day, Little Antonio had a quiet funeral ceremony with only my little sister present. I am sad to admit I was excited I finally got to flush a fish down the toilet. “Goodbye Little Antonio”, I said, pressing the flusher. “May you have a beautiful life in fishie heaven.”
Welp, that saga was over with. Now to watch some anime…
“You probably should clean out Antonio’s fish tank.” said my mom.
“Aw, but why? Parents of dead kids leave their old rooms untouched for years!”
“But it’s probably going to start to smell.”
“Okay.” Damn you Little Antonio! Haunting me even after your death! I’ll never forgive you!!!
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