Just Keep Swimming

Some people have pets because they think they're cute. Some people have pets to get attention from other people (ie. "oh your dog's sooo cute"). Some people have pets because they have no patience with humans, and some people have pets because they have no friends. I, however, have pets for reasons not previously listed.  

My two fish. In this case, that is a complete sentence.  Obtained by abandonment by their original owner, my fish came to me out of need for a new caretaker.  There was no love between the fish and I, no bond had been formed, I just felt like they needed me so I'd take care of them.  It's very easy really, you know...to take care of fish. They don't do much.  Except grow. Mine grow a lot, all the time actually.  They have no names, because apparently when you name pets they die????? I'm not sure about that one, but its working so far.

So there's a goldfish and an African Cichlid. I'm suspicious that some chemical has found its way into the tank and is not only being tolerated by the fish, but also embraced by them as they continue to grow, nearly having doubled in size within the last year. I am not a hater of large creatures, however, the daily waste produced by the duo has become unmanageable by the standards of any man or fish.  A slippery film of green algae often glazes the inner walls of their rectangular existence, simply because I neither have the time or desire to constantly clean the tank.  The small lifeless statues I've put in the tank to try and resemble some distant aquatic haven, are also frosted with the lovely green fur. I imagine the inside of the tank smells repulsive...a combination of fecal matter accompanied by a stale metallic stinging sensation in the back of the throat, most likely caused by the aforementioned rogue industrial solvent that was probably planted in the tank to make my fish so large that the tank cracks and I am left with nothing but two 3lbs jumbo alien fish wreaking havoc among the broken glass and scum covered pink pebbles all over my saturated carpet. Then what? I'd have to touch them, and that's just disgusting.  That's what the fish probably smell anyway.