Several months ago, we started to noticed that our fish tank was becoming sparse with fish. We had no idea what was happening to our fish; they just disappeared. We would look in the filter and under the arch structure, but never found them. One day Bella commented that Nemo's tail looked a little smaller. I tried to study the fish and see who the culprit was, but I couldn't find him in time. We went away for a short weekend vacation (neighbor was feeding the fish), and when we came back Nemo was missing his tail and an eye!
I remember thinking that he was "so gross" and that "poor fish"- he surely can't survive like this. We found the Meanie and Jer "took care of him." We let Nemo live and kept waiting for him to die. But day after day, he fed on the bottom of the tank. I guess he was sucking in the food from the rocky bottom, as he couldn't swim up to the top for a feeding.
We bought 8 new fish (of the nice variety) a couple of weeks after the episode, and put them in the new tank with Nemo. Every morning I would feed the fish and they would swim up to the top, almost jumping out, as they gobbled up the food. And every morning Nemo would be on the bottom, in his same position of bottoms up, mouth on the floor of the tank. A couple of times the kids and I thought he was dead, because we couldn't find him for days, then miraculously, he would appear. We were all so excited to see him.
It's been almost a week now, and we cannot find Nemo. I can't believe that I really miss him. Some would say (as I had before) he's just a deformed fish. But I know he's much more. He's a survivor who has taught us not to judge the worth of something by its outward appearance alone. I hope to see him soon.
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