The spawn’s fish died yesterday.
She’s staying with the grandparents until tomorrow, so there was a flash of panic. She’s still really sad about losing the ferrets, and we weren’t sure how she’d handle losing her fish so soon after that. We thought about running out and buying a replacement so she wouldn’t know.
But her fish was a large, all-red, veil-tail male Betta, and the chances of finding one exactly like it are slim to none. That, and I really value honesty, and I didn’t want to have to go through all that effort just to lie to my kid.
So last night, I grabbed her from the grandparents and brought her home. Kazander and I explained to her that her fish had gone to heaven. She immediately asked to see, so I took her into her bedroom to see the dead fish.
And of course, since she’s more literal than anyone I’ve ever known,
She saw the fish and immediately said, in her smartass “duh” voice, “Uh, Mommy. He didn’t go to Heaven. He’s right here.”
Which made kazander start laughing, because he’s a smartass, too.
So I had to explain that his body stayed here, and his soul went to Heaven. Which took her a minute to “get.”
But she got it, she wasn’t all that upset, and we went out today to get her another one. Her favorite color is blue now, so she picked out a pretty blue halfmoon Betta.
And she decided to name him Fish the fish. Which, for some reason, makes her bust out laughing every time she says it. I don’t fuckin’ know, man. But she’s got her fish, disaster was averted, and life goes on.
I could see the scene before my eyes. Had to laugh a bit myself 😉 .
Yeah, that conversation was pretty amusing.
That is sad….I love those fish. I had one that lived quite a long time, for a few years….she got very old, and one day I vacuumed and forgot to reconnect the heater….she died a day later. Still feel a bit guilty even though she was near the end anyway. Anyway, is it male or female, the one you bought?
Aw, I’m sorry to hear that. Yeah, I had one that lived forever, too. I called him my immortal fish, and he lived in one of those tanks that are split in two, so you can have a Betta on either side. He outlived four different females. They really are awesome fish.