The Rabbit-Man and Other Short Stories

[2]

    Pets are magical. One should always appreciate their pet. Pets are companions, friends. They always understand. You can do anything, and they will never ever judge you for it. Except if you kill them. Even if it was an accident.

    Six-year-old Betty stared at the fish in her hands. It was motionless. Betty stroked the shimmering scales, now dulling to a blackish shade. "MAMA!" Betty called. No response. "MAMA!!" Betty screeched again, this time even louder. Still no response. With a small huff, Betty went inside, fish still grasped in her tiny hands. Betty stomped upstairs and to her parents' room. "Daddy, where's Mama?" Betty demanded, speaking to the only person standing in the room.

"I think she's in the restroom, sweetie. Wait here until she comes out."

Betty sat on her parents' bed, waiting for her mother to come back. She set the fish down beside her and patted its head. "Don't worry," Betty cooed. "Mama'll come right back and wake you up again."

Finally, after what seemed like hours of waiting, Betty's mother came into the room. "MAMA!" Betty screeched once again, and threw herself into her mother's arms. Betty's mom took a couple steps back after the impact and let out a small oof.

"Betty, darling, you're growing heavy," Betty's mother said, trying to push Betty's weight off her body.

Betty slid down to the ground and exclaimed, "Oh! I nearly forgot to tell you!" Betty scrambled to the dead fish, and offered it to her mother.

"Eurgh. Why is your pet fish dead?"

"HE'S NOT!" Betty screamed, tears beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. "HE'S JUST SLEEPING! WAKE HIM UP MAMA! RIGHT! NOW!"

Betty's mother grimaced. "Alright, darling. Um, if you don't mind me asking, how did he di—I mean fall asleep."

"I—I don't know!" Betty wailed, tears now fully streaming down her eyes. "He smelled bad so I decided to give him a bath!"

"Um... where exactly did you give him a bath?"

"In the swimming pool! Outside!"

Betty's mother sighed, knowing perfectly well that chlorine must have killed the fish. And if, by some miracle, it hadn't, being outside of water too long would have killed it as well. Now how to explain the dead fish to her innocent, six-year-old daughter?

Betty's father was still standing in the room, forgotten by both his wife and daughter that he was still there. So it was only natural that both wife and daughter jumped when he spoke. "Betty your fish is dead. The chlorine in the pool killed it." Of course, Betty's father was as blunt as most fathers are, and even more tears, if that was possible, streamed down Betty's face in a waterfall.

"B—But what's chlorine?"

"Chlorine is the stuff in the pool that makes your eyes sting. It's like poison to a fish," Betty's father replied. Betty's mother merely shook her head a little, surprised at the bluntness of her husband.

Later, at nighttime, Betty's parents listened to their daughter sobbing in her room. They had tried everything that they could possible think of to make her quiet down, but all to no prevail. Betty's mother glared at her husband. "You know, you could have been a bit more nicer when telling your daughter that her fish was dead?"

Betty's father merely shrugged. "She's gotta learn. All living things die eventually."

"Don't just brush off the subject!" Betty's mother snapped. "She won't stop crying because of you!"

"Betty's a very tearful girl." Betty's father tried to soothe his wife, but to no avail. Instead, he just made her angrier.

"You're her own father! Are fathers supposed to make their child all sad? Do all fathers do this?" Betty's mother exclaimed angrily.

Seeing as he was in no position to win this fight (as always) Betty's father did what he usually did whenever he was loosing an argument with his wife, apologize. "Look, honey, I'm sorry okay? I promise I'll make it up to Betty, okay?"

"How? Betty already refused a new fish?"

"Somehow. Look, I'm really sorry," Betty's father said pleadingly. "Just please don't get mad at me..." he added underneath his breath.

"What was that?" his wife asked, her voice dangerously low. Both spouses knew that she had actually heard what her husband had added.

"N—Nothing!"

(A/N: I have no idea where this went. I just wrote the first part some time ago because I was feeling a bit sad about my dead fish again. And I opened up this unfinished chapter today and realized that I had totally forgotten what I was going to do. So yeah, that happened. ^^;)