Sonja’s fish tank has been making a loud humming sound, so we decided it was time for a new one. Angel was in the process of transferring Ruby from his old tank and accidentally dropped him in the disposal side of the sink. “Jess, come quick!” Angel yelled, and I quickly ran into the kitchen. “I lost Ruby!” he said in panic. “Stick your hand down there and get him out!” I just couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t know what I was grabbing and I thought I would squish him and his guts would be dripping between my fingers. So, he got a pair of tongs tried his best to get him out, intravenously running water to try to keep him alive. After a while passed by, I told him that he was most likely gone, and we had to tell Sonja. I explained to her what happened and said, “I’m sure he found his way through the pipes and found a nice new home. You can pick a new baby fish all by yourself this weekend.” I thought that would distract her a little and she wouldn’t be too upset. Well, I was WRONG! She immediately started sobbing, “I want my fishy, he was MY red fishy!” We tried to console her by telling her Ruby was fine, and offering her some cookies. That just created a new concern, “Ruby will need food, we need to get him food!” Our hearts broke. Angel couldn’t hold it in after that and tears welled up in his eyes. He felt so awful and seeing Sonja so upset was too much to bear. All he could do was hold her and tell her he was so sorry. Then, I started to cry. Can you imagine a little beta causing so much grief? But Ruby was a gift from her Abuelita, so he was special. She finally calmed down, ate her cookies, and went to bed. An hour or two later, I was just falling asleep when Angel came upstairs to say, “Guess what… Ruby is alive!” After putting Sonja to bed, he heard Ruby flopping down the sink and decided to keep trying. He pulled out the rubber stopper and was able to reach in and grab him. Other than some damage to his long, feathery fin, he seemed to be fine. I can’t believe he was still alive after that long! I told him to wake Sonja up and tell her, but when she’s asleep, she’s ASLEEP and couldn’t care less. He took her down to see, and all she said was, "Can I go back to bed now?" The next morning she woke up so happy and excited to see Ruby at her bedside in his shiny, new tank. Daddy, you're our hero!
And Isa was very happy to have Ruby back too.
