Somebody brought a bucket full of fresh fish and as my son and I looked inside, we found one still alive. My son quickly started looking for something to put the live fish in so he can keep him as a pet. After about 5 minutes he came back with a bucket. I told him to put some water in the bucket and put the fish inside. He did that and disappeared into the bathroom with his new pet. All excited.
After what seemed like a long while he came back to the kitchen and said to me “mama I’m gonna name him Jackson, he’s mine”. I told him it was okay as long as his grand mother didn’t catch him ‘playing with food”. I was all but forgotten for many hours and I even had the phone and the TV to myself. It felt good for a change.
The next day, the fish, who was still an exciting addition; was being fed and checked on every few minutes. I don’t know much about keeping fish, So when asked what they ate the day before, I mentioned worms and maize flower only to find the fish swimming in white water with worms in it. I truly don’t know where my son managed to find the worms but he did. I wasn’t worried as the fish was still alive we seemed to be doing something right. Right?
Day three rolled in and my baby was still very much infatuated with his pet, and as I went to check up on the fish his movements seemed kinda slow. I wasn’t alarmed and went on with my chores as usual before I took a nap.
I was woken up with my son’s teary face and choked up voice telling me that Jackson was dead. I felt bad and sad we had become used to having a fish in the bucket, in the bathroom and now…
I tried conforting my son by telling him we will try and get him another. He seemed to cheer up a bit. I suggested we give Jackson a funeral, but out of anger my son had thrown the dead fish in the garbage outside before he woke me up. So we wrote “Jackson” on a piece of paper, put it in a small box, lit a candle and buried it under an avocado tree outside.
The whole thing had me thinking and looking back at my childhood. Where did I get all the patience to organise “fish funerals”? If this was my mother I would have been spanked for playing with perfectly good food and also for crying over a fish…
Any who… We are still planning on getting another. A smaller one this time…
To be continued…
Thanks for taking the time to read this have a great day!
Here and there 