Dorothy is a little red betta. Rachael has had her forever...well, she thinks she has. Our current Dorothy is actually the second red betta named Dorothy, since the first one passed without her noticing a couple of years ago, and Daddy was able to sneak out to Wal-Mart in the dead of night and replace her while Rachael slept.
This afternoon, we were cleaning Rachael's room (after a long day of disciplinary unpleasantness) when I paused to drop some food in Dorothy's tank. She swam over to the food, took a bite, and promptly floated up onto her side, where she remained.
Uh-oh.
Dorothy floundered around a bit more. She's still breathing. But it won't be long. And this time, Rachael knows. :(
After many tears, many pleas to take her to a vet, etc., Rachael sat down at the kitchen table and drew a (very good) picture of Dorothy in her tank. She said that she wanted to draw a picture of her before she died so that she would never forget her.
Then, she brought me a piece of paper. On it, she had written a song for Dorothy. It's one she's heard in two Garfield "specials" (remember those? I loved 'em when I was a kid. I think one of them was Garfield In the Rough.) The song goes "so long, old friend...I wish that I could see you once again...I never knew I'd have to say so long."
That's the part that she wrote.
And now I'M the one sitting here crying over her fish. :(
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