Monday

On Monday morning when I went to feed the fish I knew immediately that something was terribly wrong. Only one silly face was gaping at me for breakfast. The other fish, Donna, was wedged beneath the flat rocks at the bottom of the pond. This is the third fish, in as many years, that has died in this very manner. It almost seems like their last wish is to not be a nuisance and just hide and die quietly. Poor Donna. While she was only in my care for 3 years, she was about 17, or more maybe, years old, which is pretty good for a plain old feeder fish. I spent the day in a bit of a daze, crying a little. It might sound ridiculous, but I really love those fish, I love feeding them and seeing their sweet little faces begging for food.

Then something even worse happened. By the time I got home from work Kelly had also wedged herself under the rocks. How could this be happening?? Both fish in one day? I agonized over what I’d done the day before, which was rinse the filter and top up the pond, but I do those things all the time and nothing terrible had happened. So I readied myself and asked Ari to do the dirty work. Unlike me, she isn’t squeamish about touching dead things . So she lifted the rock…and Kelly swam out. She wasn’t dead but she wasn’t ok either. It was clear that she was missing her old friend and protector. She sulked for 2 days under those rocks. She didn’t even beg for breakfast. Awful, so heart breaking. So, I got her a friend. His name is Dylan and he is a little smaller than Kelly. It’s hard to say how friendly they are, she tries to hide under him but she is too fat. He races around the pond, he is getting to know his new surroundings. I’m trying to give him space to settle in but it looks good, Kelly is out of hiding.

RIP Donna, the white warrior princess of the pond.