Day of the Fish

Oh, hi! I'm Fish. Someone said I was supposed to have a name, but I don't know of any given to me. Angelfish said that the young beasts gave me a name but I could never figure out what it was supposed to be. The young beasts, and old beasts too, live outside of water. I don't know why they do this, it must be awfully uncomfortable for them. Maybe that's why they make such loud noise all the time - they are in pain. The old beasts don't make as much noise as the young ones, maybe they have gotten used to not breathing?

Anyway, people say that I have a short memory. I don't know if that's true or not, it may be. I'm not the only one with memory issues though. Yesterday the young beasts fed me in the morning and just a few minutes later the old adults fed me! Angelfish refused to eat seconds, so I got all hers too. She said it was poor manners but I didn't think it was a big deal. Besides, the snails end up eating all the food that we don't, and heavens knows they don't need to get any fatter. I don't like the snails... they don't have much for brains. They aren't bossy and rude like the shrimp that used to live here, thank goodness, but they leave slime everywhere. It's not the good slime, either. The algea that forms underwater is perfect, pillowy soft and warm. The slime from the snails is just plain sticky and gross. I was very upset after the beasts put the snails here in my home, though now we've learned to tolerate each other. It's a pretty good life, all in all. I eat, swim, talk to Angelfish, move pebbles around, hide from the snails in the sunken ship, and sleep in my flower. The only time anything really goes wrong is when the beasts 'clean the tank.' They think that for some reason we like all the algae gone and brand new water. I wish they realized that it finally is back to being perfect about the time they ruin it again. First the young beasts bang all around me and on the tank, then scoop us all up and put us in a tiny jail with nothing to hide in. They dump all the perfect water out and take all the perfectly soft algae off everything, including my flower bed. Then they put new water in it which smells bad and feels weird. Then they dump us back in over a waterfall! I hate it. I wish they would come into the water so I could talk to them. It's impossible for me to understand them when they are in air. The one time that a young beast did speak to me underwater, though, all it did was yell, nothing was coherent. I guess I must give him credit for trying, at least.

Well the stomping by the beasts has stopped, so it's time for bed. I'm going to go curl up in my flower, which is the best place to hide and most comfortable spot, and sleep until the stomping wakes me again. Goodnight pretty Angelfish, goodnight stupid snails.