The world is a slightly dimmer place this week. Not just because of the rain.
For a few short, wonderful months, I had a fighter fish friend named Sparky. I have never met a happier, braver, or more resilient critter. He danced every day when he thought he should be fed, and was always excited when someone came into the room. Considering he lived on the kitchen bench, that means he was pretty much perpetually excited.
He'd follow you around the room against the glass of his bowl, and investigate anything that rested nearby, be it inanimate object or finger. And he knew the difference between fingers, faces, and objects.
He survived more than 7 months of disease, from lumps to infections to fin rot and finally liver failure, and still kept swimming. He earned the name Toyota for his sheer strength against the odds.
He taught me that you can be happy just to be alive, and lifted my spirits every day when I came home. Our lizard friend Mikey fascinated him, and they kept each other company with staring contests through the glass.
He rests now beneath a brilliant yellow hibiscus in my mother's garden; it's the happiest plant I could find. I think he'll like being a pretty flower. A painting of him in his prime hangs above Mikey's tank.
We love our Sparky Toyota, and we'll miss him terribly. We're glad he isn't sick anymore.
He has finally found peace, and he'll never be forgotten.
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