Life Matters

Angels are angelic, but angelfish are not

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Like many people, Hubby loves the atmosphere created by having a fish tank in our living room; the gentle sound of bubbles delivering fresh oxygen to the water, the flora of a multitude of colors, the eerie rock cave in which the fish can hide, the natural stone rock covering the floor of the tank, and then there are the fish.

When Hubby first set up the tank, he was very conscientious to let it sit for a while before adding the fish. I was not so patient, and happily took my granddaughter shopping to “The Fish Bowl” to buy fish for HIS bowl. Like children in a candy store, we went from tank to tank, buying the prettiest little fish; neon tetras (his favorite), cichlids in inconceivable colors of orange, pink and yellow, slender black and white striped danios looking like what zebras would be like if they fish, a few plecostomus to suck the algae off the side, and brightly colored guppies, (ie all male guppies). I would have chosen a few brightly colored, long tailed goldfish except for the fact that Hubby is a party pooper and insists goldfish do not mix with tropical fish.

As we were nearing the end of the fish aisle, Rosie spotted the angelfish and stopped in her tracks. We just had to buy an angelfish, two angelfish in fact so the one wouldn’t get lonely. They were graceful and beautiful and I thought they would make a lovely addition to the tank. A few tanks down we came across tiny sharks, and Rosie wanted to get them as a “special surprise” for Hubby. I had the random memory of when we had a small fish pond in our yard and threw in a handful of goldfish. They grew huge, proving the theory that they grow to the size of their environment. Looking at the sharks, I wondered if we threw them into the lake behind our house, would they grow to be full sized sharks. Alas, we would never know because I convinced Rosie that the sharks would eat the other fish. Little did I know what was to transpire in the tank in the next month.

We drove home the bag of treasured fish, and let the bag float on top of the fish tank water until the temperatures were equal. When the time had come, with great fanfare, the fish were released into their new home. The colorful aquatic creatures of different shapes and sizes zipped along in the tank. The neons and tetras banded together, swimming in unison, like a small school of fish.

We were super excited awaiting Hubby’s return from work. He spotted the fish tank as soon as he came in the front door. He was properly pleased and exaggerated his excitement with “high fives” for Rosie’s sake, who jumped up and down with joy.

Every day, sitting in his manly, extra tall size Lazy Boy chair, Hubby would gaze at his tank fondly. The little swimming creatures had a relaxing effect on him. That is, until he started counting them. Day by day, the number of fish started to decline. He meticulously checked the chemical content of the water. It was fine, but his fish kept disappearing. He was most saddened by the demolition of the schools of fish because watching their antics in the tank was a particular pleasure of his.

Finally, yesterday he came home and only two fish were remaining in his treasured tank: two enormous angelfish! He had not noticed how much they had grown and how their girth now dominated the tank. Then came the sudden realization that instead of eating the gourmet fish food he had been providing, those two mean, inconsiderate fish had been eating the other fish! And there they swam, huge and beautiful and dominating the home that was now theirs alone. The motto of this story seems to be that Angels are angelic, but angelfish aren’t.

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