My last fish (the opaline gourami I dubbed "Jerk Mark II" in honor of his predecessor) died tonight. I watched it happen, just by random chance... as I was cleaning the living room a bit in preparation for the arrival of roho, enveri and Brianna. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him dart across the tank's width, twice, then he settled to the bottom. This wasn't entirely uncommon for him -- he liked to be down by the gravel. Only after a minute did I realize he was laying on his side. I walked to the tank, peered in and knew he'd gone. I removed him and turned off the light before I unplugged the filter.

So that's that. For the first time in a decade I have a tank completely devoid of fish. At this time I am uncertain if I'm going to repopulate it. Part of me thinks it might be better to just tear the entire setup down and pack it away for storage in the garage rafters. I'll mull on that a bit more after this weekend is over. But for now, I must finish making the guest beds.

Till the rivers all run dry

Tags: fish
Current Mood: sad
Current Music: Neil Young - Natural Beauty