Home Sweet Home

There once was a fish all alone in a tank. Once or twice a day someone would drop a little food in, but there was nothing to do but swim two feet turn and go back. It was such a lonely life for this fish in a tank. Until one day a little girl came and watched. She saw those sad lonely eyes and asked, “Daddy, can we get that one too?”

That was the day it all changed, for the sad little fish now had a name. He was Sujah because the little girl said “He’s so brave and fearless. He needs a name that lets everyone know.” But more than that, he had a home. Not just a small glass box, but a real home with friends to play tag.

His new home had a treasure chest, big enough to hide in, so he could jump out at his friends when they went by. Of course, they did the same to him, then they would laugh and laugh. It also had a long tube he would sleep in, his best friend slept on the pirate boat.

Life was good in his new home. His new mom, the girl that rescued him from a life of boredom would come to visit several times a day, giving them all a special treat, she had several cans to choose from and would pick a different one each time so they wouldn’t get sick of having the same old thing.

She would also clean their home for them; since they couldn’t do it themselves. Each day she would put this thin tube down the side of the tank and carefully, so as not to hit anybody by mistake, she would go back and forth along the bottom of the tank sucking up all the old food that had fallen between the stones.

Once a week her mom or dad would come with her and move everyone to another tank while they did some deep cleaning. Then they would be put back into their home.

That pretty much sums up day-to-day life. But one day they had some extra excitement. A cat had come to live in the big house. She jumped up on the stand their home was setting on and looked through the glass at them. Her face was sooo big! It scared everybody and they all swim as fast as they could to the back corner of the aquarium. Each hiding behind something, a shell, a sign or a statue of a seahorse.

The cat just laid down and took a nap. Sujah picked out of his hiding place and saw the cat seemed to want to be friends, she wasn’t trying to get at them so he swim back for a closer look. The cat, sensing movement in the tank, slowly turned her head and looked at Sujah. He stopped dead in his tracks; but didn’t run and hide.

The cat blinked once, then twice. Sujah didn’t know what to think of that. He had never seen a cat before and didn’t know that they blinked when they were comfortable with you. She wanted to be friends. But Sujah did sense that she was a nice cat, and wouldn’t hurt him. So, he went a little closer. Before long he was doing all kinds of fish tricks for the cat to watch and when the others saw the cat was watching and smiling they came out too.

After that, the cat came to visit every day and everyone enjoyed his visits. Then one day the cat did not come. They waited and waited, but she never showed. Then just before supper time, she came in. But she didn’t jump up beside the tank like she always did. She just sat on the floor and watched with a sad pained expression.

The fish didn’t know what had happened that day. They didn’t know she had gone to the vet for an operation, but they knew she wasn’t herself and wanted to bring joy back to her life. So, they put on a show for her. She liked the show and tried to smile to let them know. But it was just too much and she had to lie down and take a nap.

The next day she was feeling a little better and in a few days could once again jump up for her daily visit. That was the day someone had left the cover off the aquarium and a mouse got in. Sujah tried his best to protect the other fish, but that mouse was so much bigger than him.

That was when Adira the cat went into action. She stuck her paw into that tank and grabbed for the mouse. She missed him the first, second and third times, but the fourth time she got him. Before she could move Sujah jumped up and rubbed her cheek to thank her, and than all the other fish came and did the same.

Now we all know cats don’t like water, but Adira liked being kissed by a fish. Every day she would come hoping the cover would be off, but it never was again. One day she come in when the little girl came to feed them and watch how she lifted just a small piece of it to put the food in. She thought it looked easy enough, she could do that. So, she waited until the girl left the room and jumped up on the stand. She nuzzled it with her nose and then her cheek. She moved it but couldn’t get it all the way up.

Adira tried to use her paws, but she put them on top and couldn’t lift it at all. Finally, she was able to lift it with her nose and before it came back down get her paws under it and lift it all the way. Then she stuck her paw in the water and left it there until the fish came to give her a hug and a kiss. After getting one from each she took her paw out, closed the cover and settled in for her visit.