Martin Han, G10, RDF International School

My friend has a very small aquarium. It used to be filled with water and a few bits of floating grass until he decided he wanted fish in there. I remember he was very enthusiastic about having fish in the tank, claiming that it would be “incredible to watch.”“It is amazing how beautiful other people have made their tanks to be! I think I can do it,” he said with eyes shining.

He was fast at getting things on the move and within a week the tank was refilled with fresh water and much equipment had arrived, and I watched as he added unknown chemicals into the tank and placed many different rocks inside. He added two small fish, yellow and blue in color. They were hiding underneath rocks and sand upon arrival, and we rarely caught a glimpse of them. He also threw in a small crab, it wasn’t the prettiest, but it did diversify his tank.

When finished, he stood up and proudly looked at his work, the same tank except for the fact that we knew there were 2 fish and crab, but it was not much different from before as they were all hiding. It was even barer than before since he removed the few seagrasssea grass bits that were there before he added the fish. His expression however told me he was very proud of what he had accomplished but which wasn’t impressive.

“So where are the animals?” I asked

“Ah! Hiding, they will come out I believe.” My friend answered, staring into the small tank.

I rolled my eyes and left him staring at the empty waters.

The next month he couldn’t stop bragging about his tank, sometimes waving his hands in excitement. I don’t know how placing a few rocks in his tank could be an exciting activity, nor how watching a shrimp eat it’s supper is fun, but I suppose it must be a thrill for him.

Eventually, he stopped talking about his tank and I forgot about it.

It was a few weeks later when I visited his place again and I recalled his tank, but didn’t find it everywhere.

I looked, so I asked my friend, “Where did you put it?”

“Put what?”

“The tank of course!”

“Oh! That thing, I threw it out long ago.”

“Long ago! I thought you got it last month!”

“Yeah, but I decided it was too much for me to deal with. Too troublesome, so I sold it and now I am growing flowers.” He points to pots of flowers on his balcony. “I’ve seen how others had made their garden look like heaven, I bet I’d make my garden into a flourishing flower field in no time!”

I’ve never seen a flowering field in his garden, ever.