The boyfriend (and by boyfriend I mean Lindsy's, not mine. For the record I don't have a boyfriend, but if you are reading this Tom Mison, I am open to the idea!) is desperate for a pet. There are no animals at Zach's house and over the last few months with us, where he has been exposed to baby chicks, birthing guinea pigs, lambs and miniature horses, not to mention the dog, cats and rabbits, he has discovered just how much fun pets can be.
Lindsay thinks it is a good idea to get Zach a fish for Valentines Day, in fact she goes one better and decides to get two so they can be called Zach & Lindsay and live happily together in their fish bowl. Excuse me while I barf. Anyway, not to mock young love, but Lindsay thinks she should get the fish the night before Valentine's day so they and the bowl are all shiny and new. Knowing what a tenuous hold fish have on life (based on the fact that Grady could never understand how his red Beta fish turned blue one day and then back to red a few months later) I suggested she get the fish ahead of time to make sure they would survive the transition from store to home.
Usually my ideas are brilliant, I wouldn't have a blog without them, but this didn't rank as one of the best. Lindsay ended up bringing home three fish - wouldn't you know it was a buy two get one free sale at the pet store - and two tanks. The bowl she bought for Zach was your classic fish bowl, with no lid. After all with no predatory animals in the house, you don't need a lid. Lindsay's bowl - as she decided to keep the last fish! - at least has a lid on it. This is when it dawns on us, that with four cats in the house, where is a safe spot to keep Zach's fish until Friday?. OMG whose bright idea was this ?
Lindsay and Rob fill up the tanks add the gravel, plants etc and decide they will be safe on Lindsay's desk, at least they would if it was a desk and not a closet. I'm assuming it was a closet based on the amount of clothes pile thereupon. This fish idea has taken on a life of it's own as the girls now have to clean their room to make space for the fish. The tanks weren't up there half an hour before Lindsay finds two of the cats sitting on her now clean desk, gazing longingly at the fish. Her tank with the lid is safe, but we decide to move Zach's bowl to the high dresser in our bedroom - now it is my turn to have to clean up . Bloody fish.
The next morning I get a call from Rob (he vacates the premises before anyone else gets up. For some reason he prefers it that way), to tell me that one of the cats had stolen the fish food, carried it downstairs to the playroom, proceeded to rip it open on the carpet and eat most of it. I take the phone in so he can give Lindsay the news firsthand and she immediately yells at me to turn on her bedroom light. Her fish is still safe, however the lid meant to deter the cats has been knocked into the tank, effectively trapping the poor hapless fish in a small corner. Lindsay then went on to tell me that she didn't get any sleep because the same two cats spent the night on her desk trying to get the fish. She heard suspicious noises all night, and every time she turned on the flashlight, she'd catch them frozen in the beam, looking very guilty. She is on the top bunk so didn't feel like clambering down each time, and fortunately she decided against hurling anything at the cats, because her aim is so bad, she would have for sure clobbered the fish.
I am starting a pool for the life expectancy of the fish, all wagers are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment