The Life and Death of Snart
Snart was my pet goldfish. I loved him dearly.
At the end of 2018, my then-girlfriend and I were going to a gift exchange my mom was hosting. We stupidly thought it would be a good idea to burden some poor sucker with two five-cent goldfish.
The guy who "won" them was furious and announced that, unless someone took the fish off his hands he'd throw them out the car window on his way home.
We named Snart "Snart" and his fish sibling "Ass" or something. Ass died within a week. Snart stuck around for a while.
I took Snart home to my college dorm. My roommate, majoring in Biology, taught me how to properly take care of him. Got rid of his bowl and bought him a decent-sized tank and some plants. Ever since then his tank's filter has provided me white noise as I slept.
My daily routine included turning his light on for his breakfast and turning it off after his supper. With both meals I sang him a short song:
"Fishy man, time to feed my fishy man."
Every time I had to travel home from college I brought Snart along. Buckled him into my car and drove slowly for him. He seemed to enjoy eating peas every once in a while. He also seemed to like following my finger around like it was a game. Maybe he thought it was a worm or something. It was a game to me, though.
When I graduated my roommate gave me two mountain minnows to be Snart's roommates. I named them "Susan" and "Susan's Boyfriend." They all seemed to get along.
One Christmas, much to Tessa's dismay, I splurged and got Snart a 20 gallon aquarium. That aquarium was cursed, and almost killed him. First he suddenly had ick. Cured that, but then he got fin rot. Cured that and the Ick came back. I gave up on the big tank before February and moved everybody permanently back to their old home. Susan's Boyfriend did not survive the ordeal.
I once accidentally poisoned Snart with trace amounts of dish soap. I did his water changes with a plastic gallon jug and confused his for one with soap in it. I think that permanently damaged his swim bladder; he could never stay perfectly right-up after that. But he was still a lively boy.
Over this last week his health took a decline. He swam and ate less and less. He stopped following my finger. And then he was gone.
I knew I loved my little fishy man but I didn't think losing him would affect me the way it has. Frankly I've been preparing for this since the dish soap incident almost two years ago. But four years and five homes is a long ways to spend with a critter.
I've had pets come and go, fish, cats, and turtles, but Snart was my first pet who was entirely my own. I hope to never forget him.
I still haven't taken down his aquarium or turned off the filter, though it's only been a couple days. It's going to take some getting used to sleeping without hearing the teeny, tiny waterfall.
Avid swimmer and beloved first pet.
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