Babies

I was on the way down to the shop when I was tempted to sit by the pond for a bit and contemplate the myriad creatures therein. After several moments I stood up ready to confront some more work dust in my fish bowl helmet when my eye was caught by a baby fish. "Ah, a baby fish" I thought blandly, then I remembered about the fish Sammy had bought and that we were to be on the look out for arrivals. During my training as a Piscine social worker I was told to ignore the paper work on these occasions and take immediate action as lives are at stake, so I sped off to fetch a glass bowl and a scoop to save the young ones from their parents. I managed to spot three in the end, once they are big enough they can get back in the bath with their parents as long as they have their own rooms.
It is strange the significance objects take on during their time with us.
The foreign population of this country is obligated to acquire a reentry visa before leaving the country, so back in 2000 when I heard that my mother had collapsed, the first thing I had to do after buying an air ticket was get in to the city and sort out one of these visas. I took Sammy with me as moral support and we popped in to a store called Tokyu hands after we had got the papers sorted. I believe it was there that we bought the glass bowl here and a bunch of sea monkeys. Tough times ensued and it turned out that the last time I was to see my mother alive had already passed by. Now here we are, several years later and the bowl I thought looked so fragile it would get smashed on the train ride home is still with us as safe harbor for these tiny little swimmers.
Sammy is in Canada on a study course at present, I must write and tell him he is now a proud uncle or something similar.