Fish Tank

Do you have one of those childhood memories that sticks with you like glue? No matter what you do, you can never erase this moment from your mind. It is like it just happened yesterday...

I have one.

And I hate it.

I was in an exotic fish store with my dad and step mom. They had taken my sisters and I there to keep us occupied for an hour, I am sure. I glided among the tanks with eyes full of wonder. Up until that day I had been unaware that there were other fish beyond your garden variety gold ones.

And then. I came upon a tank. Unlike the others, this tank had one solitary fish inside. It was like a little grey balloon. Although it wasn't as beautiful and brightly colored as the other fish, I liked him. He had tiny teeth that gave off the illusion of a smile, and in my young mind that is exactly what I thought he was doing.

::tap:: ::tap:: ::tap::

My father tells me not to tap on the glass.

"BUT DAD!!! He is smiling at me! Come here! LOOK! He is smiling!"

::tap:: ::tap:: ::tap::

The fish is exploring the opposite side of the tank...

::tap:: ::tap:: ::tap::

He is completely ignoring me!

::tap:: ::tap:: ::tap::

How could this fish that was just SMILING at me be completely ignoring me!?!

::TAP:: ::TAP:: ::TAP::

The fish turned around...

And....

EXPLODED!!!!

He more than quadrupled in size!

And not only was he bigger, but he had GIANT NEEDLES protruding from his skin!

This fish MUST be a direct relative of FREDDY FLIPPING KRUEGER!

I did what any pre-school aged child would do.

Kicked my shoes off and ran like a bat out of hell out the front door.

No relation of Freddy Krueger was going to attack me!

I refused to wear shoes the rest of the weekend because I thought that they were going to explode exactly like that BEAST of a fish....

Even though I made it out of that fish factory unscathed, the thought of a blow fish (which I was later informed was the name of my prickly foe) really irks me.

Today Brittany was talking about her and her boyfriends fish tank. She told me about the eels and the tropical colored fish...the sea snails...the coral...and then. She mentioned that she had...a blowfish.

"NO!!  Don't! I do not want to hear about it! I HATE blowfish!"

"Ok! Ok! I wont talk about it...and why did you just take your shoes off?"