My faithful fish who passed away: part 3

One beautiful day, I was at an amusement park when I found a stall selling goldfish. There were chubby ones, black ones, orange ones, and even big ones. Out of all the fish, three caught my eye. I asked the seller if I could buy one cute goldfish, and he smiled and packed her into a bag. I thought she might be lonely, so I picked two more. One was orange and black like a koi fish, and the other was black with little orange spots. After paying, I drove home and put them into a big fish tank. At first, they were scared, but after a few hours they started swimming around happily. "Hey, sister," I shouted. "I got three new goldfish!" She came over and asked, "What are their names?" I said, "I don't know yet." That night, we spent a long time thinking of names. The next morning, we named them Nautica, Storm, and Fiji.

Everything was going well at first. I fed them every day, maybe even a little too much, because they became fatter than before. I loved watching them swim around together. But after a few weeks, something sad happened. Fiji died. I don't know if Storm and Nautica understood what happened, but my sister and I were very sad. After that, I promised myself that I would take even better care of the two fish that were left.

Then another problem came. One week, we ran out of fish food. I kept thinking, "We'll buy more tomorrow." But tomorrow became another day, and then another. Every time Storm and Nautica saw me, they swam to the front of the tank, waiting for food. I felt really bad because I had nothing to give them. Storm slowly became weaker and stopped swimming around. When we finally bought more fish food, Nautica ate right away, but Storm did not move. Later that day, Storm died. My sister and I buried him beside Fiji. Now only Nautica was left.

For a while, Nautica looked healthy. She still swam over whenever I came near the tank. But I made another mistake. I forgot to change the water. It still looked clean, so I thought it was okay. Every day I told myself, "I'll do it tomorrow." After some time, Nautica became slower and weaker. She stayed at the bottom of the tank most of the time. I quickly changed the water, hoping she would get better. The next morning, before school, I ran to the tank. Nautica was not moving. I tapped on the glass, hoping she would swim to me like always. She didn't.

The tank was empty, and it felt strange walking past it. My sister and I buried Nautica beside Storm and Fiji. Even though they were just little goldfish, they meant a lot to us. They taught me that having a pet is not only about having fun. It is also about taking care of them every day. If I ever keep fish again, I will make sure they always have food, clean water, and lots of care.

To my beloved Nautica, Storm, and Fiji.