Last week my friend Kevin (NJ Pong champion) won me a beta fish at the San Ginero festival in Little Italy. Other than being awesome (gotta love a man who wins you stuff- even just a friend), I was afraid my poor fish wouldn't be long for this world. Carnival fish aren't exactly renowned for living ions. More like hours. The fish, who I named Seymour, was in cloudy water with a dead bumble bee!!! He was a real fighter though, surviving the trip up town on the subway. I promptly cleaned out his bowl, washed the rocks, and after filling the bowl with evian put Seymour back in. The next day I bought him a little flower, some food, and medicine. My theory was that if he was going to die at least he'd be comfortable. Plus I was giving him something he'd never had- a fighting chance.
Well it's been over a week now. After medicine, two square meals a day, and all the evian he can swim in Seymour seems active and, if it's possible for a fish, happy. I'm not totally convinced he's out of danger yet- I still put medicine in his bowl and watch to see if he's floating upside down. But at least I know he's comfortable, and that, in itself, is a good start to a relationship.
