Thoughts & Occurrences

Old Ugly

Old Ugly

What I liked most about my grandparents house when I was growing up was that they once had a thirty gallon aquarium filled with all kinds of small fish. I would watch those colorful fish for awhile in the tank as they swam back and forth with nowhere to go. It was very relaxing, yet one fish stood out like a sore thumb. It was a twelve inch plecostomus fish that would eat the algae on the inside glass of the tank.

A plecostomus is a bottom dwelling fish found in the Amazon River. It has a spiked body with a sharp dorsal fin. Its colors range from light brown to black or spotted with blacks and browns, and can get up to 30 inches in the wild.

The poor fish in my grandparents' tank got the name "Old Ugly" because of its size and dark coloring. It wasn't always so big though. It was given to my grandparents when my aunt moved and it was only about two or three inches. Then the fish grew.

The fish usually did nothing, but eat the algae on the glass. Unless my cousin teased it with a fishnet and the thing darted all over the tank as if he shot off that silver ball in a pinball machine. Although it was cruel it was actually funny to watch. Perhaps he wanted the fish to move like all the rest in the aquarium.

One time my sister and I spent the night at our grandparents' house. When we woke up we saw Old Ugly on his side and not moving more than usual. In fact, he wasn't moving at all. When our grandparents awoke, we told them about Old Ugly and sure enough even touching him with the fishnet didn't faze him.

So then we were deciding what to do with a twelve inch dead fish. For one cannot flush a fish that big fish down the toilet. I thought of the garbage disposal while my grandfather wanted to throw him over the wall since there was nothing, but desert over there. My grandmother said neither was an option. He had to be buried since we named him.

When our cousin came over we buried old ugly with his mom's help. So Old Ugly was put there in his grave. He remained there until one day my cousin decided to dig him up. He hardly found anything left of the fish, for the fish had decomposed.