Two Holiday Guests

We are having two gold fish holidaying in our house at the moment during the 10-day absence of their masters.

It is the first time for us to keep pets in the house, and it has been unexpectedly entertaining. They are two creatures which have quite a personality. Being voiceless does not mean that they don't show much emotion. Whenever the bottle of fish food is lifted from a nearby table or carelessly passed across in front of them, they would get extraordinarily stirred. They would open wide their mouths as if they are mumbling a silent protest if nothing ends up in the aquarium.

They also follow human beings' movement unbelievably well. Whenever somebody is near to the small tank, they would immediately crowd to a certain corner to seek attention. Exactly like pet dogs to a certain degree. Occasionally, they become small audiences to watch me dancing aerobics in the room.

Sometimes they would peck at each other, but no serious crime has been committed so far. They also suck up stones and throw them up afterwards to look for more food. Additionally, we were both quite surprised to know that they two would actually, probably by accident, move around the decorative seaweed and miniature bridge. One morning, I found them dislocated and scattered in separate corners.

While we pet them, they also seem to pet a dummy fish in the aquarium. The plastic yellow fish usually rests motionless on the bed of the tank, but it swims around following the water flow caused by the the two gold fish. Sometimes, the two gold masters would go to peck at the yellow object to make it move.

I have the impression that gold fish or carp in outdoor ponds are quite voracious, but I have never thought that pet fish would be as animated as the drama that our two guests create everyday.

A friend once told me that her husband would spend hours watching his aquarium after work everyday. Now I have started to understand the feeling. In the end, life in an aquarium can be quite a theatrical piece, especially when they know there is an audience out there.

Some conspiracy is going on here...