A LOVE STORY ,MY GOLDFISH AND SWIM BLADDER

There she lay, gasping for her last breaths , what could he do? He was powerless , at a loss to do anything to help her. Why did he care? He was forced into this relationship in the first place. He didn't choose her, for that matter, she didn't choose him either, they were chosen to be together by outside forces beyond their control. But as fate may have it, here they were and they only had each other.

He knew from the get go there was something wrong with her. She on the other hand knew nothing else in her life, to her it was completely normal what she was doing and going through.

For over 2 years now, this is how they lived . Her everyday struggles became the norm for both of them. He learned to adapt as did she and at times he even appeared to "care" as he would stop by to check on her. She couldn't do things normally like most others, her handicap and left her this way, but she still continued to press on each and every day even though the simplest of tasks were so energy zapping that she would spend the rest of the day just laying around. Even eating was too tiresome sometimes and now in the past couple of days wasn't even worth the fight. Had she given up? or had her body just given out?

He continued on with his normal daily activities , although now, with less vim & vigor. If he would venture out, he wouldn't go far and he was constantly going back and forth to check on her. Sometimes, he would panic thinking she was gone and give her just a little nudge to make sure she was still there with him and he would sit by her as if he were counting her breaths and some how he knew she was close to leaving him for good. He would stare out into the world from thier meager abode and search in the eyes of those that passed by as if to scream., " Help us, can't you see she's dying?" " Do something"

But he realized there was nothing anyone could do now, nor could they have ever done anything more to help her than what they had already done. They had tried all the remedies suggested to them. All the medicenes, all the "natural" food,the chemicals but nothing seemed to help, she seemed better for a second only to return to her prison of no control. Now it was almost like a relief to know she would soon escape the horrible life she had been given. He knew he had to be strong , as he always was for her. He remembered the good days she had, he wanted to do everything with her on those days and he was the one that always kept her going even when she was too tired to do anything. How they ventured out into thier small world together , side by side , exploring what there was to find.

Now, all who could do was wait and watch her... he was losing her and he knew it.

(This is the story of my 2 goldfish, Goldie & Mixto, Goldie had "swim bladder" and spent most of her time floating up side down on the top of the tank for the last 2 years, we tried everything to help her. These last two days she has spent her time laying on the bottom of the tank. It's obvious to me Mixto knows he's losing his only friend, and we are both powerless to help.)