Meet Charlie

Ever since I knew fish were allowed in my dorm, I was determined to get a betta fish.
The day after I moved into my dorm, we went to Petco and began to look over the many bettas available.  They looked pitiful in their tiny cups, but one fish caught my eye.  He seemed like he was nearly every color of the rainbow: purple, blue, green, red... and he was very active, swimming all about in his little cup.  I fell in love with him at once.

I named my new charge Charlie after the character from the TV show "Lost."  Charlie from Lost was made to be a WONDERFUL friend.  He would have done anything for his best friend Claire and he ultimately did make the greatest sacrifice of all.  I figured that Charlie was to be my first friend in college (and my only roomie), so I would name him after the best fictional friend I ever saw.

Now, I'm no fish expert, but according to what I read, Charlie is a male multi-colored veiltale, for those of you who are interested whatsoever.  He's a very active little guy.  He chases my finger when I wave it around his mini-aquarium, he flares his fins at the red light on my camera, and he covers the top of his cage with bubble nests.

Charlie is gorgeous, isn't he?

I'll admit...  Sometimes when I'm feeling lonely or homesick, I'll pretend in a way that Charlie is actually my roommate.  I'll walk through the door, throw my bags on the ground, and say, "Sorry I got home so late, buddy.  This guy stopped me in the hall and we started talking.  Homework will be a killer and..."  I think I might be going somewhat crazy.

Charlie is a good listener though.  He's so pretty.  I love it when he swims beneath his light, because his fins ripple with color.

Funny story.  I was eating lunch with Ali a few weeks ago and I told her, "I'm so excited to go to college and get my new betta BFF."  Well, Ali had apparently never heard of a betta before, so she thought I was talking about joining a sorority of some sort and finding a new BFF there.

Ali and I definitely want each other to make a bunch of college best friends.  We are sisters, so our relationship will never diminish simply because we grow close to others as well.  My uncle told me once that love isn't like water in a bucket.  You don't pour some here and some there until the bucket is empty.  Love is a cup that never runs empty.  In this way, Ali and I can have many wonderful friends and we will still love each other just as much.  However, if you can imagine, having your best friend excitedly talk about running to college and making a BFF right away, it can seem a little... sad, in a way.

Ali smiled and said, "Great!" but her reaction was a little less exuberant than I expected.

The next day when my mom and Ali and I were eating out, I mentioned again, "I wonder where I'll go to get my betta BFF."

Ali said something like, "Why Beta?"

She still thought I was planning to join some sorority named Beta and find a best friend there.  (I don't even think there IS a sorority called Beta.)

I chuckled.  "Because they're small, pretty, and easy to maintain.  I'm so excited."

At this point, we both began to realize we weren't talking about the same thing.  I proceeded to explain to Ali that a betta is a fish and we both had a good laugh afterwards.