And then there were three

Let us all pause for a moment of silence, in memory of Stu, Momo, George and the other non-orange fish. In a span of 24 hours, our fish population has dropped from seven to just three.

When the first one was found floating Saturday afternoon, AJ almost started to cry. "Not George," his voice cracked with despair.

Thinking quickly, I bluffed, "I don't think that was George. That one looks like Stu."

AJ instantly cheered up. Apparently Stu was more expendable than George.

Sydney was in denial, "He can't be dead," she insisted. "His eyes are still open."

AJ did his best to comfort her, explaining that Stu is now "in a better place." By "better place", he must mean somewhere between the bar screens and grit tanks at the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District. Stu has been flushed.

Around 8 p.m., Momo followed him down the drain. By bedtime, another of the grey fish appeared to be floundering, and by morning, it and the other grey one were both belly up.

There was no denying it now, George was a goner. At least AJ was more accepting of it this time. He even took care of the scooping and flushing.

We've added water and cut the amount of food we're giving the fish, in hopes the water will clear a bit. According to the starter kit's instructions, we should only have to change the water once a week, but it's already pretty cloudy.

The kids no longer seem to have high expectations for these pets. After church, after playing outside and after shopping today, the first thing they did when returning home was head to the fishbowl to check for new casualties.

The orange ones must be a little heartier of a breed.The kids have given two of them new names. They're sticking with Josh for one of them. The others are now Stuart (named in honor of Stu, perhaps?) and Shiney.

I wish them all the best of luck. To quote Dory (even though none of the fish now bear her name) from the movie Nemo: Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.