Colosse.

Colosse is Cale's first pet. A beta fish. Red, to be specific.
He has been living with us for a few weeks now, and is the prized possession of my 3-year-old.

Like I said, it was weeks ago...Cale, Megersa and I were at Walmart. Not unlike any other shopping trip, except that for some reason, we found ourselves in the far right corner of the store...where the "pishies" are.

Normally, and for good reason, we just observe. We point out the different colors and sizes. "There's a big, fat one, Mommy...there's a little tiny one. That one is red...I like red. Here's a dirty one...look, that one has spots.......etc, etc." But, this time I noticed they had several new beta fish. Most of the time I look at them, and they look "less than lively," so we pass.

You may not know this about me, but I love beta fish. I get excited every time I see one. They're just so darn pretty and easy to take care of. They don't stink, shed, or poop anywhere that I need to see...an excellent pet. :)

When Tim and I were first married, we had a pretty pretty blue one. I named him Caesar. Caesar lived despite these odds:

1. The day before Tim and I moved from Cedarville to Illinois, we were in our apartment cleaning everything out. I had already taken Caesar and moved him from his fishbowl into an empty jar with a lid that I had poked holes into for air. A perfectly acceptable traveling container. I put him down by the door on the tiny little linoleum entryway we had in our living room, to await his first road trip.

For whatever reason (I don't know - maybe I was afraid he wouldn't be able to "breathe") I didn't screw the lid on completely.

I knew I hadn't, but Tim did not.........

I can remember it like it was yesterday - Tim was taking armloads of stuff from the house, into the truck, and I was in the bathroom, giving it one last clean. Then, I heard it - CRASH, something shattering, and then "Oh no!" I ran out to see what was going on.

Tim had grabbed Caesar's makeshift bowl by the lid. The lid slipped from the container, and Caesar ended up crashing down to the floor with a few little blue rocks I had put in his container as "company."

I rushed over and scooped him up. I needed water. WATER!! A bowl, a bucket...anything! But Caesar was the last thing to go out the door. My mind raced. But, then, in a stroke of genius, I thought about the room where I emerged. The toilet!! There's water in toilet - and I just cleaned it!
I ran into the bathroom and threw him in...only to realize I had thrown a little blue rock in the toilet. Caesar was still flopping around on the linoleum. Grabbing him, albeit gently, I rushed back to the toilet and added him to the rock that now decorated our can. Poor thing seems shocked at the temperature, and the events that had just transpired, but he was alive!!

ALIVE!

He was living...in a toilet. We had nothing left in the house. There was nothing to put him in, so, I sent Tim to the local gas station/grocery store to get another jar of something. I think he came back with salsa. We dumped it, rinsed it...and somehow got Caesar out of the toilet and into the jar. We went to Tim's parents house in town and poked holes in the top for air.

He survived. Phewf.

Now, does that sound like enough for a fish to endure? Well, it should have been.

But, believe it or not, the very next day we threw him in the rink again. Round two:

Caesar vs the roof of my car.

2. As I walked out to my car, which was packed to the brim with stuff...I put him on the roof. Seeing where I'm going here? Yep. I drove off with him on top.

I drove from Tim's parents house (where we stayed our last night) to the bank (not a mile away) with Caesar on the roof. I went into the bank, got every last bit of money we had, and then got back into my car. It was only then that I noticed someone yelling at me that I "had something on my roof"!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously. I am dense sometimes: ~In high school I put my cell phone by the windshield wipers, and got in the car, obviously forgetting about it. I then TURNED ON THE WIPERS without thinking - and my phone went flying. ~I've driven away from Subway with a fountain soda on my roof...~I once drove all the way home from church with my Bible on top.

Dense yes; but apparently a careful driver? :) haha.

I know I have pictures of Caesar somewhere. I actually have a picture of him in the toilet with that little blue rock. I'm looking at the printed version of it right now! But I can't find it saved on our computer. This is our first apartment in IL. If you look to the back, on the left of the vertical blinds, on top of the bookshelf...there is a glass bowl. Somewhere in this bowl is Caesar.

So, Caesar survived....again. He made the move with us tucked away in a spot I created especially for him in the car. He lived with us for almost a year after moving into our apartment in IL...and then, we brought home our first kitty. Tobey...Tobey the destroyer:And well...Fish don't have 9 lives. :(

Even after the tragedy, my love for beta fish continued, but none of the others I brought home after Caesar lived very long. ((Sometimes it's hard to tell how old they are in that plastic cup at the store.))

So, I gave up on owning another beta.

But on this particular day, with the help of my son's bright blue eyes pleading at me, I chose to love again.

Colosse is red. A deep red. He lives in a flower vase with aqua blue rocks and a purple plant. He's over-fed daily by my son, and has chosen to live despite Cale's curiosity, the abrasive way he carries around the bowl, and his extreme affection.

Because I think once again, I picked a fighter.