Ode to Juanita

My first semester of college, I was starting to get tired of dealing with people. I had unfortunately had a couple of experiences that persuaded me to be more anti-social. What could I do to fill the void that I was creating for myself? Make new friends? Sure, but that required effort. I would have loved to get a dog, but my schedule didn't really allow for the training of a new puppy. Plus, I lived in a student apartment complex that wouldn't allow dogs. After thinking for a while, I decided to get a Betta fish. Sure, they're not very fun to snuggle with, but it would be nice to have someone "on my side" if things were to go sour with roommates or something. I texted my neighbor (who had a car) and asked her to take me to Wal-Mart so I could buy a Betta. I searched through the selection--which was pretty good for Wal-Mart--and decided on a little pink, red, and blue one. She became my little Juanita. For the first couple of days, she didn't seem to be doing very much, even for a fish. She just stayed in one spot and didn't do much. My neighbor finally told me, "Wal-Mart drugs the fish they have so that they don't have to feed their fish as much. Just wait a while and the drugs will wear off." And it was the truth. Boy did she move! Juanita was a perfect-fitting name for her. She would zip around the bowl and then spread out her fins. She loved flipping those things around. She was so fun just to watch! I would catch myself looking up from my homework at her for quite some time, watching her stop and then decide to zoom around the bowl.

Lately, she has taken to poking around in the rocks at the bottom of the bowl. One morning, I heard a bunch of the rocks move, and I couldn't see my little Juanita in there anymore! I couldn't see where she had gone! I searched around, and finally I saw that she dove completely into the rocks. I took a pen and moved all the rocks to see if she was alright, and she wriggled out just like she usually does. Now that I'm in a new apartment complex, I'm actually not supposed to have fish anymore. I decided that every time we would have clean checks that I would simply hide her in my closet. Yes, my little Juanita became an illegal alien.

Today, however, she ventured again into the rocks. She dove into the rocks wholeheartedly, just like before. I was not there to save her. I came home and couldn't see her in the bowl again, so I looked down at the bottom. There she was, in between all the rocks at the bottom. I took a pen a moved the rocks, but she didn't wriggle out like she did before. Yes, she finally met her Maker today. So this is to my poor little Juanita: thanks for being the best and most enjoyable fish I've ever or will ever own. It was a pleasure taking care of you. You had your own personality, and I'm glad I got to know you. You're off to new adventures now!