When
Mama came back from a trip with four goldfish,
I started keeping goldfish as pets. I had this
connection with the fish. I seemed to understand
the fish and could almost imagine what they were
saying.
Then
my friend got a gerbil. When I went to her house,
I had a lot of fun playing with it. I was soon
begging for one. My parents finally agreed to
get me a gerbil at the end of the summer.
The
day before I got my gerbil, my last group of fish
got sick. I knew it immediately because my fish
were swimming around on their sides. I also knew
they would all die the next day. I gazed at them
for the last time and then went to bed.
The
next morning, I woke up to find my dead fish bobbing
on the surface of the water-just as I had expected.
Then something swam out from behind the plastic
reef-a fish! The fish looked at me with sad eyes
and moved its mouth up and down as if to say,
"Please, dont trade me for a gerbil!
I stayed alive just to be with you!"
"Ill
think about it," I said.
I
sat on my bed thinking hard. The last surviving
fish watched me with pleading eyes. Id like
to keep the fish, I thought. But I wanted a gerbil
so badly! If only I could have both. But I knew
Mama wouldnt let me have both. I was going
to get a gerbil, I thought firmly. Thats
what I wanted, thats what I would get.
"Sorry,"
I said to the fish. I waved good-bye.
As
I walked out the door, the fish turned sadly to
hide behind his reef. Before I went away, I stared
at him so I could remember him for as long as
I lived.
Princess
of the Canoe
I
opened my eyes. All I saw was Mama's back with
the autum orange life vest around her neck. My
family was in a canoe that looked like a cow with
those big spots. I looked painfully at the gnat
caught in the web next to me. I watched in envy
as Mama lifted the green oar and gently pushed
the water behind her. Again and again. I twisted
my neck to see Papa do the same. (Very hard to
do with a blue life vest around your neck.) I
was sitting on a foldable red beach chair with
a plastic bar infront of me. It was so unfair!
Mama got to paddle infront just because her back
hurts so I had to sit next to the gnats and the
fact that I fear bugs didn't help. I tried to
make it more fun. I tried to pretend that I was
a a princess being served. More like princess
of the gnats, I thought glumly. Papa and Mama
worked together to dodge the tree stumps before
the island. The island is a mound thick with bushes.
It was only a yard long and a yard wide. When
we were past the island, Mama said, "Deandra,
take a look at what you see. Remember this as
long as you live. " I took a good look before
I closed my eyes. I saw trees that looked like
gray silver reefs and tropical blue water. When
I got back home, I tried to picture what I just
saw. I closed my eyes and saw the lake as clear
as a photo. I think I will remember the autum
scene of the lake.
Deandra
Tan lives in New York City and attends Sixth grade.
In her free time she loves to read, draw, scooter
and play Gameboy. She also enjoys Kung Fu marital
arts which she recently began studying. She often
wishes she had a sister or a dog but settles for
having a light gray gerbil named cuddles.
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