A Tale of a Tail

Last week I caught Aliya's hands in the fish tank. I asked her what she was doing, and she said "Nothing". I looked in Martin's tank (Niah's beta fish), and noticed something wasn't quite right--the tank was murky. I asked her again, but she gave the same answer. I looked closer at Martin, and that was when I realized that his fins were gone and half of his tail was missing! Martin looked like he had been butchered! It was then that I noticed the "evidence" on the place mat by the fish tank. There lay Martin's missing pieces. By this time Aliya was crying and was rather upset. I know that she didn't mean to hurt him--she just wanted to "pet him and hold him", but Martin didn't want to be held!

I wasn't sure if Martin would make it. I wasn't sure how much "loving" he had received. Later that night I cleaned out his home (finding more Martin pieces in the process) and gave him some food to eat. He didn't feel like eating, but he was thankful for a clean tank.

It has been a week now, and it looks like Martin has survived! It even appears that he is growing a new fin and a new tail. Hooray for Martin! Martin has survived one child...will he survive another one?