Spartacus, the Warrior Fish

I’d like to tell you about a very special fish.  When I was eight, I won him at the county fair by throwing a ping pong ball into an empty fish bowl. My brother also won a fish, I guess the game wasn’t that hard. Brian made fun of my fish because mine was all white, while his was bright orange. He said, “Your fish has leprosy and he is going to die.”

I said, “He isn’t sick, he is a warrior, his name is… Spartacus.

Brian's fish died the next week. Ha! Spartacus was going strong after a whole year. I loved that fish. I was very good about feeding him on time and cleaning the fish bowl. Each morning I scoop him into my hands and pet him. He would move his mouth open and closed as if to say, “I love you Lauren!”  

Around the anniversary of bringing Spartacus home, I went to sleep-away camp for the first time. I entrusted the care of Spartacus to my mother. When I came home from camp, mom looked guilty. She told me “Laurie, I’m sorry, but when I was cleaning the fish bowl, I accidentally dropped your fish down the drain.

I was devastated. I felt so guilty. Here I was traipsing around summer camp when Spartacus felt abandoned. How terrible it must have been to go down the drain! I started sobbing. I cried for so long that my mom got uncomfortable. “Calm down Laurie, it was just a fish!”

 “It wasn’t any fish; it was my Spartacus!” I wailed.

Eventually mom made me go wash the tears off my face with cold water in the bathroom. I had the water running for pretty long time and kept splashing my face over and over again. As the water cleared my eyes I saw a vision: Spartacus floating up from the sink. Then I realized that wasn't a vision! Spartacus had floated up! And he was still swimming! The drain was clogged and he must have been hanging out in the drain trap for the last few days.  

I was so happy for Spartacus. I picked him up in my hand and pet him, then I put him back in the bowl.  He swum around with vigor.

I sprinted downstairs. “Mom! Spartacus is alive! Can we give him a feast to celebrate?”

“That’s wonderful, Laurie! But fish can’t tell when they are full. If you give him too much food he could eat himself to death.”

I certainly didn’t want that to happen. “Well, he deserves something for all he went through. Can we buy him a girlfriend? He seems lonely.”

Mom and I went to Walmart, where my family bought all our things, and I picked out a friend for Spartacus. They didn't have any other white ones like Spartacus so I got him and orange friend. I felt like Spartacus was so cool he would be colorblind.

I brought the lady fish home and put him in the bowl. I watched her and Spartacus swim back and forth for a while. Then I was called downstairs for dinner. When I came back upstairs I saw there were no fish in the bowl. Instead, there were pieces of fish: scales, fins… one fin had even somehow flown over the top of the bowl.

I was hyperventilating, choking on my tears. Poor Spartacus! It seems that the lady fish had eaten Spartacus and then because she ate too much, she exploded. I went to wash my face with cold water but of course there was no fish in the drain to swim back up.  I like to think that Spartacus put up a fight, and was the truest warrior to the very end.

I never bought another fish. There can only be one Spartacus.