Today was a real tough day. I was tasked with the noble duty of going to my sister’s apartment – which had (a) had the power turned off for who knows how long, and (b) had been empty for a few days – to rescue my sister’s fish. One lone betta fish, and an aquarium (filter and all) of an unknown number and variety of fish.
To be honest, when she tasked me with this job, I expected to find floaters. So imagine my surprise when – despite no power to filtration units and not being fed for a long while – no floaters, all fish still alive.
The aquarium was thick with green algae and floating gunk everywhere, but me and my (other) sister ‘B’ managed to get all the fish caught with a wire colander and put into tupperware containers. The one problem being the more you pulled out, the more fish came out of their nooks and crannies. One fish, a large golden-orange bottom feeder, was the biggest surprise (pun intended).
This orange beast had red eyes and gave B the creeps, so I became the proud owner of this monster, and of the betta fish. B took home the unknown number of guppies, small trout looking things, and even fish that looked like piranha (but, they couldn’t be, could they?)
Anyway, once we went our separate ways, we were both unsure of what to do as new fish parents. B went to a pet store and, as a whole new aquarium with all the bells and whistles is quite expensive, was very happy when a store employee said they can take the fish and adopt them out to good homes. Excellent!
I went to a Pet Planet because I had no idea what kind of fish this orange beast was, or what he’d need to be healthy. The store had betta fish food, but not much else, and one employee (we’ll call her M), was very knowledgeable about fish and even shared some of her own fish stories, so I shared some of my quest as well. Being told I’d have better luck at a larger store in the south to find all the accessories this bottom-feeder orange dude, M said, “You know, I have a tank at home where this guy would be perfect in, I could… take him off your hands?”
I wouldn’t call myself a fish person, but I took this rescue-the-fish operation very seriously, and here was M, someone you could tell was incredibly kind and compassionate, who wanted to give this fish a good home. And I burst into tears. It’s silly, I know, but my job was to take care of these fish and now I was able to do so thanks to this random person I’d just met. I explained some minor points of what led me here and why I was tasked with this job, and she was so happy to help, it was quite the experience. When she learned the beast didn’t have a name, she suggested Fred. And the beast responded to the name, *I’m not kidding!*
Fred. “My sister would love that name for him,” I told her, and that’s how I made a random friend through a fish named Fred.
Anyway, all this is to say, is that silly little things like fish can bring people together, even in the middle of an otherwise overwhelming day.
PS: I fed Fish the betta fish today (the other rescue from my sister’s apartment), and I swear he made eye contact. He gave a huff, so I gave him a little bit more food, which he swam up to, ate, then stared at me again with attitude. And, gosh, if that attitude doesn’t fit the situation, I don’t know what does. But with that I’m even more dedicated to keeping Fish around as long as this betta has.
PPS: I think the fact that all these fish surviving the situation they were in is a really inspirational thing because they *should not have been alive.* Even M at Pet Planet said so, and she’s like the fish whisperer. So, even if your “tank” hasn’t been cleaned in months, or your “filter” is clogged, or the “power running your oxygen pump” has stopped, you can still keep going. Because at some point, an opportunity to get to a better place will come along, and you’ll get named Fred and find a happy home thanks to a complete stranger.