Not Dead Yet

From Singles 2010

I got a surprise day off last week, Wednesday. And, so I thought I'd buy myself a gift for my birthday. My intention was to find a ready to assemble raised garden bed but I couldn't find anything like that at Bunnings. So, I did the next best thing.

I bought fish.

I've had the aquarium set up with water and plants and too many snails for more than a year now. There was a time when I was trying to get the water perfect - taking samples into the store. But I couldn't seem to move the pH. So, I quit.

Anyway, I decided I'd be heartless and behave as probably 90% of aquarium owners do and JUST BUY FISH. To hell with getting the water to be desirable. There'd be virtually no aquariums in private homes if it was absolutely required for a freshwater tank. (I know I'm sounding very fish unfriendly here. It happens at 49.)

I asked the young woman at the store about which fish I couldn't kill. She suggested Mollies or Platies. I guess that guppies and neons (fish I had been considering) are the canaries in the mines of freshwater tanks. If there's anything out of whack, they're dead.

Great.

I took home 3 mollies. I was told to keep my receipt. The store had a health guarantee of 10 days. Surely, I could keep a fish for 10 days, I thought and discarded the receipt.

The black molly sank to the bottom of the tank while the white (ish) and orange one toured the attractions.

By night the black molly was dead, dead, dead.

Great.

But, here it is Sunday. Each morning I turn on the light and feed the fish and think: go ahead, say it with me: NOT DEAD YET.