Dorothy the Sequel

My forum girls know about this already, but I have a couple of relatives who will appreciate this story and I won't remember to tell them, so here you go.

Several weeks ago, Mike, Zion and I went to Independence Center and bought a Beta fish for Zion. I immediately christened him, "Fred," but Mike thought he made a way better "Ricardo." Zion took one look at him and deemed him, "Dorothy," after Elmo's pet goldfish. Dorothy indeed.

Dorothy led a quiet, happy life, until one day (about a week ago) when I decided his tank was looking a little too cloudy for my liking. I took him into the kitchen, scooped him into another container and cleaned and treated his tank. After the waiting period, I slowly lowered him back into his tank, where he happily swam and ate and swam and ate.

It was so nice out, and the sun was shining beautifully through the kitchen window. I decided that Dorothy should be allowed to enjoy the nice day for a little while and left him on the kitchen counter.

He stayed on the kitchen counter for approximately three days. The fourth day, he was gone. "What happened to Dorothy?" I asked Mike.

"Dorothy died," he replied.

"Were you going to tell me?" I asked.

"I DID tell you," he said.

"Michael," I said, "don't you think I would remember something like, 'Hey, I think the fish is dead?"

"Oh. Maybe I forgot."

"Well, what happened? Did you feed him? Overfeed him? Not feed him enough?"

"I think I bleached him," he said.

"BLEACHED HIM?!?" What the hell?!?

"Well, I was cleaning the kitchen, and I just didn't think about it. I sprayed all the counters down with bleach, and I think some may have gotten in his tank."

"Are you sure he was dead?" I was mortified.

"Well, he was floating upside down..." Yep. Definitely dead.

"What did you tell Zion?" I asked.

"I told him Dorothy had to go bye-bye to Chicago like Mommy did." Ok, there's a strange sense of logic there.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"Nothing. He was fine with it."

A couple of days ago, this started:

Z: (standing at the window) Mommy, where's Dorothy go?

Me: Dorothy went to Chicago, baby. She'll be back soon.

Z: Bye-bye Dorothy! I miss you! Have fun in Chicago! (waves out the window)

So today I will be shopping for Dorothy the Sequel. Wish me luck, please.