A New Pet In The House

I have been wanting to get Insyirah a fish for a pet for some time now. I have noticed that she's taken a particular fondness for our swimming scaly friends of late, most noticeably after she had gotten herself to watch that ultimate movie about fish (for kids at least), Finding Nemo. So, while waiting for our turn in our now monthly appointment to see my wife's doctor on Saturday, we took the opportunity of the long hours of waiting to do a number of chores, which included exploring the fish and aquarium shop that was located not that far from the hospital.

We had intended to get a number of marine fish similar to those fish you find in the aquarium of that dentist in Finding Nemo, but the owner of the pet shop somehow advised against it, reminding us that tending salt water fish is no easy feat and would require us to get a bigger aquarium to make it feasible. Bearing in mind that there's a very distinct possibility that i might be the one ending up having to look after the fish, i thought the advice was rather reasonable. Perhaps it isn't such a bad idea to start with a more common variety of aquarium fish before we venture to the more exotic ones. So we settled for a pair of goldfish, one each for Insyirah and Hannah. The girls somehow typically named the pair Nemo and Dory.

Insyirah and Hannah were predictably excited when i was putting the aquarium up, assisting with filling the tank with water. Since then, they have consistently been checking on the fish. Yesterday evening after we came back late for dinner, Insyirah made sure she stopped by the aquarium to see the fish were doing. She spoke to the fish, sort of asking if they were ok and comfy. After feeling they were ok, she wished them goodnight and turned the lamp of the aquarium off. Half way up to our room however, something seem to have come over her and she stopped in her tracks and went back to the aquarium. Both wifey and i thought her behaviour was rather baffling.

We then heard a clicking sound as though a switch had been turned on. Apparently, Insyirah had gone back to turn the aquarium lights on again.

"Why did you turn the aquarium light back on, sayang?", i asked my daughter gently.

She quipped back, giving a look of concern, "Fish is scared of the dark, abah. Scared of ghost!", her eyes wide when pronouncing the ghoulish word. Hehe...

Nemo and Dory. Welcome to the household!