My Arowana

My Pet

I had the scare of my life when my pet arowana, a fish of one-meter length, jumped off from its aquarium five feet down into the concrete floor.

The utility man was actually cleaning the tank when the incident occurred. I don’t know why the fish jumped; she could have been frightened or something. These recent days, I was worried coz she seems stressed out, restless, and has lost her appetite. She could probably be in great discomfort. I feel that she is not anymore the pet that used to be graceful. She now shies away from people and stays all the time at an inconspicuous part of the aquarium. Sometimes she leaps up scraping herself into the lid and stripping off a few scales. I really don’t know what happens but some people say that when a loved one is sick or are about to experience a misfortune, your pet cushions them in. Perhaps it’s just pure coincidence that recently, my mom suffered a stroke too and is still in the process of recovering. While I worried so much about my mom, I worried about my pet too. There could be some explanations, but I just don’t know at all...

While the fish wriggled hard on the concrete floor, I was in total panic. I tried to pick her up with my bare hands but she was just too slippery to get hold of. I thought I would get a newsprint or a cloth to control her slick. After some seconds of wriggling, the fish got exhausted. That’s the time I carried her back into the aquarium. She was saved; I was relieved.

When I acquired that fish, it was only a thin measly six-foot juvenile. Making it reach that 1-meter giant meant a lot of sacrifices. In the beginning, it was so wild it jerks whenever I dip my hand into the tank. Changing the water and cleaning the tank was equally daunting. Almost always the fish would jump off and I would pluck it back from the floor and into the tub. I thought it would not last. But my passion for the fish was so overpowering that never in my imagination did I think of giving up. And I made it a point to literally show that I was a friend and the only living creature that would love to take care of her.

Until after a few months, my patience of coaxing and gentle handling paid off. The fish would already come near my hand, poke its whiskers into my finger and allow itself to be caressed. And cleaning of the whole aquarium became much easier. The fish would allow me to carry her into her temporary tub on my bare hands. And when it’s restless, I would just dip my hand into the water and the fish would glide, seemingly feeling secure under my palm. When it’s feeding time, she would know it and before I would hurl the food into the water she would ready her mouth for a snap. And, believe me she could even take food from my hand without snagging my skin!

Her life was never as easy too. There was an instance when after I arrived from work, I found her on the carpet, all dried up and heavily gasping. I thought she would die. But a few hours after I hurriedly hurled her back into the water, she regained her strength. She was saved. In another instance, the aquarium simply gave way to its volume and broke. No one knew it until some minutes and the maintenance technician arrived to service my air conditioner. The technician saw her wriggling limply inside the empty aquarium. And for the second time, she was saved.

When she grew to be about a foot-and-a-half long, I transferred her to the company’s huge aquarium just right of the entrance within the Admin building. Since that day, that aquarium became her permanent dwelling until she grew up to her current length of 1 meter. And in the office, she is the center of attraction. Everyone passing by the area can’t help but take a minute or two to look at her and admire her sheer size and beauty. She seemed to be the awe of my company; the calming factor to everyone’s stressful job; the power that soothes ones engrossed mind from the hustles and bustles of responsibilities. She is the apple of everyone’s eyes. And every time someone watches her, she looks straight back, shows herself off and gracefully glides back and forth to the center of the aquarium, apparently in total enjoyment of the attention.

But most of all, she seems to recognize I am her master. Whenever I submerge my hand into her tank, she would come near. And she doesn’t care if I would poke her whiskers, or open her mouth with my finger, or even hold her tail and pull her whole body letting her through enjoying the ride. When I do this, everyone would look in astonishment.

I don’t know how long my arowana lives. But I hope she will continue to be my pet for many more years.