Johmnee's Holiday Weekend

                                       ( Dedicated to Joao Arthur )


            Johmnee was a strong blue fun fish who lived all by himself in a quite comfortable but downsized tank. Since he was a loner, he didn´t need much space. He had been brought up to be by himself and take care of himself. In fact, he was trained to fight whenever another fish showed up that is the reason why he was separated from the rest of the world of sea fish. His whole breed was that way. He comes from the line of fish called Betta  Splendens  or better known  as Siamese Fighting Fish.

Photo by Meire Marion

Little Johmnee was owned by a small two-and-a-half-year-old boy named Johnny. When Johnny saw the Betta for the first time at the pet shop he turned to his dad at the speed of lightening, and said I want him, I want him.

His dad could not resist that little face that had lit up and clapped and spun around in the shop while he was non-stop saying those three words: I want him. So, he bought him.

When father and son arrived home with the new family member and introduced him to the mother, she turned to the little boy and asked him: what his name was. He smiled and said “Johmnee”.

Johnny took good care of Johmnee by feeding him once a day usually after dinner. Johmnee patiently waits for Johnny to finish his meal before he gets fed. When Johnny feeds Johmnee he always says the same thing: eat everything so you can grow up and be strong.

Many days went by when Johmnee saw the mom and dad talking and pointing at him. He could understand the little boy, but these two used words that he could not decode. But then they turned to Johnny and Johnny smiled and jumped up and down really happy, so it must have been good.

The next day, bright and early the father lifted Johmnee´s tank and off they went to an unknown place. He was placed on a soft surface but the object moved so much that some of his water spilled out.

Photo by Meire Marion

He wondered where they were heading. The only trip he had taken was from the petshop to the house and now there he was again going somewhere.

After an hour or so they arrived in a beautiful house where surrounded by trees, a swimming pool and lots and lots of bright sunshine. Johmnee was happy although the water in his tank was starting to get a bit warm.

Photo by Meire Marion

The mother put Johmnee´s tank down on a shelf at the entrance of the house on the inside and there he stayed for six days. There was much to do but he did get to watch the trees sway, see the birds fly by and also watch those other people he didn´t know walk by.

Photo by Meire Marion

Photo by Meire Marion

There were only two of them who noticed he was there when they walked by, little Johnny and Johnny´s Godmother. These two would walk by and say hello, good morning, good afternoon and good night sleep well when it was bedtime. The others went on with their busy lives and didn´t even notice he was there. It made Johmnee a bit sad. Also little Johnny didn´t play with him once so he was not able to perform his daily stunts, no one stopped to watch. At least they remembered to feed him, but still it was not at the same hour and it was always the father who did and not little Johnny.

When the six days were up he was put back into the vehicle and after a couple of hours he was placed in front of the TV and he knew he had arrived home and at last  would have little Johnny´s attention all to himself once again.

He could not understand why all these people wanted to go and do their daily chores in another place; why they had taken him with them if they simply ignored him. All he knew was that, for him, those were the loneliest six days ever.

Photo by Meire Marion

(Written: November 22, 2012 All the pictures were taken by me and the fish belongs to my Godchild - JA)

 copyright ©2012 - Todos os direitos reservados a Meire Marion.