HAPPIER TIMES
The death of Meap.
Grace's fish died over the weekend. It was suicide. We were out of town, my brother was tasked with coming to feed the fish, and it was he who discovered the body of Meap just outside the aquarium. The aquarium does have a lid on it, but I suspect Grace forget to close it before we left. Meap threw himself out of his home. Maybe it wasn't suicide - maybe he was looking for adventure (this is what I told Grace ).
Now Meap was a crazy mother f*%&er. He would bash his body around the tank, against his walls, and glare at poor Ariel (Edie's fish, in the aquarium beside him). Luckily Ariel is much like Edie, oblivious to threats and stare-downs, happy to swim around and catch glimpses of her reflection.
When we picked up Grace from her grandparents, I walked her to the gate to tell her the news. She howled noooooo! and started to cry. When coached to the van, the DS was left untouched and books unread. It broke my heart to look to the back of the van and see her tear streaked face, processing the loss of her fish. I crawled to the back of the van (ew) and sat between her and Edie, arm wrapped around Grace, trying to console.
This is Grace's first experience with death. We didn't sugar coat it, it's all part of life. We did offer to buy a new one, to which she said yes, but not for another week, as she wants to think about Meap.
Meap is currently in our freezer, awaiting his final fate. There is talk about a proper funeral, but because it is the haunting season, Grace fears his spirit may come and haunt her from the garden. There was also talk of a good old fashioned flushing, but that seems so undignified for the Mighty Meap Who Took a Leap. There is also talk of putting him under the microscope - a pretty good indication to me that the mourning session is almost complete.
5 comments:
Ah, the joys and sorrows of keeping fish!
I remember coming home from Xmass vacation to find all the fish in my tank dead. They all got electrocuted when the heater broke!
Lots of flushing!!!
:)
FYI: you should keep male Beta's so they can't see other males. They are super agressive with fellow males and will even fight to the death if in the same tank. If you want to see them go nuts put a mirror up to the tank.
Poor Grace, poor Meap. I hope she gets over him soon.
Rae lost her beta fish Steve on Halloween day a few years ago. He received a burial at sea, as Rae was afraid a cat might dig him up if we buried him in the yard.
Leah's Blueberry (also a beta) survived another 2 years past Steve's untimely death, including a near death experience when Max knocked over the goldfish bowl he was in and he lay undetected (we were at work/school) for I don't know how long before being discovered. He was covered in cat hair (hadn't vacuumed much that week) but revived when put in water.
That was one tough fish, but we think old age got him in the end. Unless fish can get prostate cancer. It might have been that.
Poor fishy, so sad when a pet dies.
Hi Meanie...I wrote a post about you...sorta. Have a good weekend!
Okay, the whole haunting thing...HILARIOUS :-) Having a similar situation with a certain Mr. Bubbles in the past, I can relate!
I went through a few fish and gerbils when I was young. I did my best to take care of them, but they are particularly fragile creatures, so they didn't last too long.
Poor Meap. He sounded like an interesting fish!
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