Max the beta fish
There is something to be said about not giving up. Failing once, learning, adapting, and trying again. Rinse and repeat the cycle until one day – you don’t fail. It may take 3 tries. It may take 30 or 300. Eventually, through sheer persistence, hard work, and a desire to learn from your mistakes, success will happen.
My fish Max lives in a pickle jar. There are many reasons for this, but mainly it is the culmination of several events that (for him) were very bad. Many failures and mistakes that have almost cost him his life more than once.
I inherited Max from my nephew. At the time his water was cloudy with white mold growing on top of the plastic plant.
I tried to fix the problem. Threw out the old tank and moved Max into my 10 gal community tank after much research to ensure he would be ok.
He wasn’t ok, and it didn’t work out. My zippy little fish harassed Max, bit his large flowing fins, and chased him around the tank with the determination of elementary school bullies.
I tried again to fix the problem. With his old, filthy, tank discarded I had to find an alternative. A pickle jar was found and washed out. Max was transferred to his new home.
Now Max seems to be doing fine. He never was the most active fish around so mostly he just sits in his jar and does nothing. I know he needs a new tank with a heater and filter but won’t be able to get him one for a little while. I think he will be happier when he is warm and his water is filtered and circulated.
I will once again be trying to fix Max’s fish tank problem once I get paid. I think this will be the final move for him and he will finally be in a home that will keep him healthy and happy.
Moral of the story: (In case I wandered so far off the subject that you aren’t even sure what this post is about.) Don’t give up. Learn from your mistakes. Don’t get discouraged. Adapt and try again. This applies to writing, jobs, life, love, art, fish tanks, and any goal that is important for you to achieve.
Anna Van Skike- writer, artist, steampunk enthusiast, and geek extraordinaire.
A beta got bullied? 0.o Really? Huh. Interesting. Poor Max. I hope he can have a good home soon. We like fishies.
I know right? Who would have thought? They are supposed to be the big bad fighting fish. According to the helpful info on the internet betas are slow swimmers so they can’t get away from tail nippers and fast fishies. I was so disappointed in my other fish. I thought they were above this type of behavior. Apparently I need to rethink my opinion of my bullying fish.