Poor, Poor, Herman

Poor, poor Herman...that his last days were surrounded by unfamiliar walls and strange faces. We did the best we knew how...he was well fed, watched often, and even talked to on occasion. It is a sad day knowing that we have killed our neighbor's fish.
And an even sadder morning when I had to call my neighbor, who is now home from the vacation, wondering just how serious she was when she dropped off the fish and jokingly said that it would be okay if the fish were dead by the time they got home. When I told her that it had happened, all she said was "really?". I wasn't sure how I was supposed to read that and offered to buy a new fish and her kids would be none the wiser (my kids had just barely noticed that he seemed to be stuck in the shells at the bottem). But she said no. My kids then took the bowl over, with Herman stuck in the shell in the bottem. And the day got even sadder when the kids got home and told me that the neighbor's daughter was already crying!!! What were we to do?? (okay, yes, we gave them their dead fish back--so they could give him his last rites and flush him down the pipes themselves! Really, He only died on Saturday. and besides the water was a bit murky --and a little stinky.)

Moral of the story: we really are not cut out to be pet owners!! And beware...you better be really desperate before you ask us to watch your pet!!