I don’t recall now what our goldfish’s name was previous to the miracle. It doesn’t matter, because that is the only name we will ever remember him by.
The goldfish were a present for the children from their aunt, and we started off with 11 small goldfish because they were on sale. It seemed crowded, but we were told they would be fine and probably some would die off from the transportation and natural selection.
Most did survive initially, but we soon discovered that they liked to jump up and over the edge of the tank. Reminiscent of “Finding Nemo”. The fall alone to the floor should have killed them, as it was close to four feet. We did lose a few who jumped out overnight and died before they were discovered.
We knew we needed a cover for the tank, but we were procrastinating.
Then one morning, as I was exercising in the basement, my daughter who was eight at the time, came down sobbing and extremely upset. I didn’t know what was wrong, but I knew it was serious enough that I had to get off the machine.
She had found another fish on the floor. We hurried up to take a look and see if there was any hope. I knew I had to give it my full attention from the desperation in my daughter’s voice.
He had dried out enough that my husband had to use a spatula to lift him off the floor. It wasn’t looking extremely optimistic. We were heading towards the burial grounds, aka the bathroom, when he flicked. It was subtle and we thought it was our imagination, but he did it again. We rushed him back to the tank and I held him, while gingerly running him back and forth in the water, trying to encourage oxygen into him.
Needless to say we made a screen cover for the tank on the same day of this mishap. Miracle fish spent days on the bottom of the tank, and we were not sure that he was going to make it, but you know of course that he did, thus the christening of “Miracle Fish”. He lost all of his scales and even the majority of his fin on that side. It took weeks of recovery.
Another miraculous event that we witnessed was the reactions of the other fish, one in particular that we called ”Goldie”. She nurtured him throughout the entire ordeal. I would not have believed it, if I hadn’t witnessed it with my own eyes. She would lay at the bottom of the tank with him for long periods of time. Goldie would nudge him as if encouraging him not to give up. It was an enlightening experience for the whole family. We all have a higher level of respect for the fish of the world.
Miracle fish outlived all his siblings, proving that he was one tough fish. Our homemade screen cover saved him on more than one occasion. The relationship between he and Goldie was truly special, and made a lasting impression on all of us.