Devin Scillian - Memoirs of a Goldfish

Devin Scillian and Illustrated by Tim Bowers To my beautiful guppies, Griffin, Quinn, Madison, and Christian, who gave me the idea for this story D.S. To my good friend, Stuart Thomas T.B. I swam around my bowl. I swam around my bowl. Twice. I swam around my bowl.

I thought about taking a nap. But fish dont sleep. So I swam around my bowl.

I got some company today. I dont like the looks of him one bit. He doesnt say anything.

He just bubbles.

Mr. Bubbles still hasnt said a word. He just looks at me. I said Hello today. And he said, Ggggllllggggllll.

Hes creepy.

Today my bowl looks like a garden. There are a bunch of plants in here now. I guess Ill have to water them. Great. Mr.

Bubbles and I now have company. Hes a snail. He says his name is Mervin and he likes to eat the slime off the inside of the bowl. Hes disgusting.

Things are getting very crowded. While watering the plants, I met a crab named Fred.

I offered him my fin and he nearly cut it off. Even Mr. Bubbles is afraid of him. Fred says I should stay on my side of the bowl. Look, I said, the whole bowl is my side of the bowl. He snapped his claw and Mervin fainted.

I gotta get out of here.

That does it. My bowl now contains a sunken pirate ship, two guppies named Rhoda and Clark, and an angelfish named Cha-Cha who says shes from Hollywood. I cant turn around without bumping into something. At least Mervin is happy. This is ridiculous. This is ridiculous.

I was trying to find room for a swim today when Rhoda and Clark told me theyre going to have babies soon. Like theres room for THAT. Fred knocked Mr. Bubbles over and he became tangled in the plants. Cha-Cha said she couldnt help with Mr. Bubbles but needed me to apply her sunscreen.

The sides of the bowl are covered in slime and Mervin says hes too full to eat any more. Yuck.

Im a nervous wreck. Trying to avoid Fred, I turned around quickly this morning and came face to face with my reflection in a mirror. I nearly jumped out of my gills. I dont even look like myself anymore.

I need to relax.

Ive had it. Rhoda and Clark were racing around the bowl, Fred was fighting with Mr. Bubbles, Mervin kept belching, and Cha-Cha told me I was standing in her light. I just lost it. This is my bowl! I screamed.

I want my bowl back!

Today I got my wish. Sort of. With a whoosh, and a splash, and a clank, and a plunge, I was suddenly in a very tiny bowl of clear, pure water. Ahhh. It was small, but it was all mine. It was heavenly.

I swam around my new bowl. Twice. But I started to wonder. What had happened to everyone? When I last saw Mr. Bubbles, he was tangled in green. Who would help him? Poor Mervin was probably sick as a dogfish.

He needs me. Cha-Cha will get a sunburn without me around. What about Rhoda and Clark? Did Rhoda have her baby guppies? There are probably a thousand of them! They need me to make guppy bottles and change guppy diapers. Even Fred needs me. Im the only one who can really talk to the crabby guy. Have they even noticed Im gone? Does anyone miss me? I started to cry.

And thats not easy for a fish to do.

After a long, sad night there was a whoosh, and a splash, and a clank, and a plunge, and I was suddenly sprayed in the face by bubbles. Mr. Bubbles gurgled a happy tune. Rhoda and Clark raced by me like two speedboats, followed by twelve of the cutest baby guppies youve ever seen. Mervin waved his tail at me from the nice clean glass of our enormous tank.

Cha-Cha sat happily beneath an umbrella. I think even Fred missed me. We were all back together, and I looked around and realized I was part of a big family. I guess I must have smiled because Clark said, You look happy. I wanted to see for myself. Wheres the mirror? I asked.

What mirror? asked Clark. We dont have a mirror, said Fred. No mirror? No wonder I didnt look like myself. It wasnt me I was seeing...