Posts Tagged ‘mr. fishypants’
Mr. Fishypants 2.0
Thursday, September 29th, 2011
I sprinkled the food into their fishbowls, lined up on our breakfast bar.
First Sawyer’s on the left, then Mr. Fishypants 2.0 in the middle, then Sage’s on the right.
The kids’ fish jumped at the food like I hadn’t fed them in three weeks.
But there was no movement in Mr. Fishypants’ bowl. I thought maybe he was being coy, taking his time, checking out the selection.
I looked more closely. He wasn’t there. I pushed apart and lifted up the plastic plants and moved some of the gravel.
No fish.
In the bowl.
We do not have a cat.
“David!” I yelled. “Mr. Fishypants is gone!”
“He is not,” David replied.
He came into the kitchen to look.
No fish.
Where was he??
And that’s when it sunk in. I had a jumper.
That was the only explanation. But why? WHY?!?!?
Was he feeling trapped? Did he wonder if the gravel was greener on the other side of the breakfast bar?
His bowl was clean. He had fresh water. I fed him every day. I talked to him. I loved him!
He never showed any signs of being unhappy. Or did he? I mean, he was blue. But that’s why I picked him out at the store. He was a gorgeous deep blue.
So what was it?
Was he possibly feeling threatened by the other fish on the counter? They, incidentally, had no comment and refused to cooperate with the investigation.
Was he trying to get to my mellowcreme pumpkins? Or, as Nichole suggested, was it my singing along with J Lo this morning that literally sent him over the edge?
I actually think it happened sometime last night. While I slept peacefully, poor Mr. Fishypants 2.0 took the leap, then flopped around on the counter for awhile. Maybe he was calling out for Mommy, but David’s snoring drowned out his cries.
We looked everywhere. On the breakfast bar. On the floor. We wondered if one of our dogs likes sushi.
And then, finally, David found him, lying in a wicker tray that sits on our counter.
Mr. Fishypants 2.0 was dead.
He left no note. Only questions.
And a 2 1/2 year-old who said, “Buy ‘nother one, Mommy!”
This post is inspired by the prompt “A memorable fishing trip” for Mama Kat’s writers workshop.
Tags: he jumped, mama kat's writing workshop, mr. fishypants
Posted in Just me, Mama Kat's Writing Workshop | 31 Comments »
RIP, Mr. Fishypants
Saturday, February 19th, 2011
Last summer, I got my kids a Betta fish.
Well, really, it was for me. I had one as a kid and I’ve always loved them.
I told it was for them, though, because that’s what you do.
Mr. Fishypants was beautiful, as Betta fish are He had his share of health issues, but we always got him back to his beautiful, blue-green-red self.
The past few days I noticed he’d stopped eating. He just hung around. Breathing.
X got up on a stool and watched as his fins vibrated, thinking Mr. F was saying hello to him.
“Lalo!” X shouted. It’s his word for fish. Of course.
Friday I noticed he was floating a little sideways. I knew it wouldn’t be long.
I was right. He was on the bottom.
The kids took it like I figured they would. They cried.
Today we had the burial in the front yard.
They cried, but because they are kids, it wasn’t too difficult to bring their smiles back.
With the promise of a new fish.
If only it could always be that simple.
Tags: death, mr. fishypants, new life
Posted in Parenting | 30 Comments »
Mr. Fishypants
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Because it’s summer, and that will free up lots of extra time for me, what with having three kids every minute of every hour of every day for the next couple months and all, I decided to add another creature to our house.
I took the kids to PetcoSmart, or is it PetSmartco? and checked out the selection of Betta fish.
This sounds easy. I assure you it was not. (more…)
Tags: betta fish, creature, fish, mr. fishypants, petco, petsmart, shopping, store
Posted in Uncategorized | 25 Comments »
