Kevin’s Fish Tank
A fish tank was all Kevin could think of after his visit to the aquarium. That’s all he talked about when he was up and all he dreamed about when he was asleep.
He kept on begging for one, from his parents and finally managed to convince them. But he had to make a promise to them that he will take sole responsibility of looking after the fish and keeping the tank clean. After promising his parents that he would, they finally agreed to get him one.
So one Saturday morning Kevin went with his father and elder brother and bought a tank. It was not exactly what Kevin had on his mind though. He wanted a huge fancy one like the ones at the aquarium, with lots of lights and fish. But his father got him a simpler and smaller one with four goldfish. “I’ll convince him later to get me a bigger one with more fish,” thought Kevin.
The fish tank was entirely Kevin’s. His big brother was not very interested in fish. Kevin decided to keep the tank in their living room. After his father and brother helped Kevin to arrange it with stones and plants, they fixed the oxygen and finally the fish were put in. “The four goldfish look like four gold coins,” thought Kevin. Their bodies were shimmery and their tails were flowing around like silk. Kevin sat there and watched the fish swim around, the whole day. He just couldn’t take
his eyes off the fish tank. He was so fascinated by it.
The following week at home, the fish tank was always the subject of conversation. “Kevin, don’t feed the fish so many times a day!” shouted his mother watching him put fish-food over and over again. “Didn’t you already clean the tank just a day ago? Why are you cleaning it again?” shouted his brother. “Kevin, don’t touch the fish! You’ll hurt them!” shouted his father. Kevin re-arranged the stones and plants over and over again. He sat near the tank whenever he could and whatever he did had something to do with the tank.
A couple of weeks later, Kevin’s obsession with the tank reduced. He fed the fish in the morning and evening and cleaned the tank only when it looked like it needed to be cleaned. Sometimes he sat near the tank and watched the fish swim around but soon got bored of it. Another few weeks passed and Kevin altogether lost his interest in the tank. “Did you feed the fish at least once today?” his mother had to remind him. “Your tank needs cleaning!” his brother had to point out. But Kevin was kind of bored with it and thought doing these things was a trouble.
Later it came to a point where the other members of his family had to feed the fish and clean the tank. “Kevin, if you won’t take care of your tank, I’m going to give it away!” his father said very sternly one day and Kevin reluctantly fed the fish and cleaned the tank just to please his father. But most of the days he just didn’t bother and went past the tank so many times without even noticing it. The tank was now just a part of the background.
Then came a long weekend. Kevin’s friend Rizan had given him a plastic plant to put in his tank. It looked very nice and just like a real one. Kevin was kind of bored that day with nothing much to do. So he took the plant and went to the tank to fix it. But when he went there he stopped in absolute shock. His tank was empty!
“What happened to my fish?” he shouted and his brother came out of his room. “So you finally noticed?” he asked angrily. “For the entire last week it was empty and you didn’t even notice that. Shows what good care you took of it!”
“What happened?” asked Kevin sadly. “No one fed your fish and they all died!” said his brother angrily. “Some one should have fed them!” insisted Kevin. “It was your responsibility, remember?” his brother reminded him.“You should remember none of us wanted a fish tank in the first place, because we didn’t have time to maintain it,” Kevin’s brother said. “But you promised you would do it. You must remember that pets are not just ornaments. They too have needs and need to be looked after with care and attention. It’s a sin to have pets for the sake of having them and not treating them right!”
Kevin’s eyes filled with tears. He felt guilty and sad. “How could I have done this?
I should have at least fed them once a day! It never takes much time to do that!” he lamented.
“Alright wipe your tears now!” said his brother. “Your fish are not dead! I couldn’t watch them suffer. So I gave them to a friend. If you promise me that you won’t do the same mistake of neglecting them again, I will get them back!” Kevin stared at his brother in disbelief and then felt happy to hear that his fish were alright.
“I promise!” he said, “and if I feel that
I can’t look after them properly, I will allow you to give them to someone who can care for them!” Kevin’s brother nodded and said, “When you’re having pets, it’s your responsibility to feel their needs and love them. They depend entirely on you. You should never forget that!”