Sooner than I thought!

In my last post I mentioned that I might well get another fighting fish if I didn't kill the first. It happened sooner than I thought.

When I went in to get the first fish, there was another, not quite the color I wanted, but he was fairly friendly for a fish - coming up to the top expecting me to feed him something while the one I ended up taking home just swam wildly around his cup, which made me think he was at least healthy. Also, I wanted a cobalt one.

However, I went back to the petshop on Friday under the pretense of purchasing a net, and Lo! the other little fish was still there, spritely & attentive. I stared at him for a minute, drawing my finger up & down his cup to watch him follow it - I'm sure anybody walking by thought I was either a Fish Whisperer or a nut. I'm thinking the latter is more probable. Then, I grabbed the net & a bag of cat litter, came back & looked at the fish again. And put him in my cart.

We have a hurricane lamp at home, one of those glass domes with a candle inside sitting atop a stoneware base. Quite honestly, the thing is a bitch to light unless you have one of those long-stemmed lighter thingies that I never ever think to buy. S had mentioned that the first fish would look rather pretty in it, and since I had already got the bowl for it, I just figured I could stick a second fish in the lamp. Which is what I did. Since the newest fish is turquoise, orange & green, I put turquoise & green glass rocks in the bottom - conveniently enough, they were in a mixed bag with the others that I had bought for the first fish. This time at the petstore I also picked up a pair of fake plants. I stuck one in the bottom of the lamp, and after treating the water, poured Fishy in. I set the lamp in its usual spot in the hall on top of the CD shelves, thinking since the cats never bother it, it would be safe.

WRONG.

As I sat watching from my vantage point at the coffee table, I saw the wild-eyed Pickle cat eyeballing the fluttering fish from atop the speaker. Then, my psychotic deaf white fluffball spotted it - he got spanked for his efforts. Then, Winston, the good-natured brawler, was at the foot of the case staring upwards. I cursed them all & packed the fish, both of them, off to the closed off spare room. It went like this for several days. The cats didn't really seem as interested as they were that very first day, but I wasn't taking any chances. If I came inside, the fish came out. When I went out, they went back to the room.

Now. I hadn't told Scott about the second fish. I knew he wouldn't care, but I just wanted to see how observant he was. He went into the bathroom, I'd put the fish back in the hallway. He walked by it for 2 whole days (and the fish was out when we were home) without noticing it! Then last night, I hear a confused voice, "Did you put the... what the... is that the same...?" And I started laughing because he'd been standing right next to it earlier in the day when I stepped out of the library/office & stared at him for a second, fish less than a foot from his shoulder, when he looked at me and said, "What?" "Oh, you're pretty funny," I said cryptically.

Mainly I did this to test his much-flaunted skills of observation. Many things escape my eye, not surprisingly, and he'll notice and say, "It's just because I'm so observant." And here is a moving thing right under his nose & he doesn't notice it for two whole days. Yeesh.

Nonetheless, he thought the fish was quite nice in the lamp, too, but also had to point out.... "A big dog. A snake. Eight cats. Two fish. Something is wrong there. And it's weird that we only have to worry about three of those eight cats." So, maybe bringing fish into a house of cats isn't the best idea, but dammit, I wanted them! Just like I wanted my orchids which have been relegated to the closed-off room, and my violets which get juggled between the spare room & the garage (to be fair, the violets were brought home after my grandma died & my mom tried to kill them even tho' she is otherwise a talented greenthumb whereas I'm NOT), and the python, which also resides in the spare room.

Damn cats. They're ruiners.

And, no, I haven't named the fish yet. Is there really much point? It's not like they're going to come when I call them or anything. Okay okay - I will. I'm thinking something along the lines of Guido or Gomez or Arturo. I had considered doing something like Gonzo & Raoul, but I'm not sure yet. I'm mainly waiting a little bit to make sure they don't go belly up in the next few days. T'would be a shame to waste a couple good names. Not that I don't think they'll live, because they're healthy & love the food, but just in case.....