My name is Roxy. I am a goldfish. At least I think I am. I am gold. I live in a pretty bowl with pretty blue and purple rocks. In my bowl is a big plant with green leaves. Sometimes I accidentally run into the leaves when I am swimming laps.
   My bowl lives in a room that is grey. My bowl lives on a white desk that is in this grey room. Next to my bowl is a bright light that turns on when my owner sits in her black chair that is at her white desk.
My owner’s name is Jenny. Jenny has dark brown hair. Her skin is not dark though, it is almost as white as her desk. Jenny wears black shirts and blue pants. That is all. I like colors. Jenny is not colorful, but I still like Jenny.
  Jenny feeds me every night. Jenny cleans my water when it gets dirty. Jenny got me new rocks last week. I heard Jenny tell her mom she wants another fish. I might get a friend. I am so excited.
    Every morning the sun bursts through the curtains of the grey room that I live in. Jenny’s curtains are light pink, the only color in her room that is not dark. When the light bursts through the curtains is when I get excited. It is a new day to spend with Jenny. Jenny is home every day because her school is done. She has been sleeping until the light comes through the windows. She sleeps a lot now.
   Today is the day that Jenny leaves to visit her dad. I heard her mom talking to her about it. I don’t like when Jenny leaves because sometimes her mom forgets to feed me. Jenny never forgets to feed me.
   I watched from my bowl as Jenny pulled a black suitcase out of her closet and filled it with black shirts and blue pants. Jenny’s face looked sad. I then started to wonder what I would wear if I were a person like Jenny. She wears black shirts. Would I wear orange shirts? Blue shirts? Maybe even light pink shirts like Jenny’s curtains.
   A few minutes went by where I swam around my bowl. I ran into the green leaves, then rested on the blue and purple rocks. After my resting was done, I looked to see what Jenny was doing. Jenny wasn’t in the grey room anymore. Her black suitcase wasn’t on the ground anymore. Had Jenny left without saying goodbye?
   I saw the light behind the pink curtains start to fade so I knew it was almost time to eat. If Jenny’s mom remembered to feed me. Last week Jenny went to a sleepover at her friend Carrie’s house and left before she normally feeds me. I heard Jenny say, “Mom please don’t forget to feed Roxy!” as she walked out the door. But her mom never fed me.
   Not long after recalling all of this, Jenny’s room door opened. It was Jenny’s mom! She was going to remember to feed me, after all.
   “Rob, come in here and you can feed Jenny’s fish for her,” Jenny’s mom yelled to Jenny’s little brother. I like when Rob feeds me. He is very little, so he gives me lots of food.
   “Yay, I love the fishy!” Rob squealed as he ran through Jenny’s door, which was covered in photos of Jenny and friends.
   “Oh wait, honey. Before you feed Roxy let me go get my surprise I have for when Jenny gets back,” Jenny’s mom walked through Jenny’s door.
   I took this time to watch Rob as he watched me. Rob was wearing a bright blue shirt with a big orange stripe across his chest. Rob has curly blonde hair and big blue eyes. He liked to poke on my bowl’s glass. I didn’t like that very much.
   Jenny’s mom is back. She has something in her hand. What is it? It is a clear cup. It has some color in it though. Red I think.
   “Another fishy?!” Rob screamed. “I love fishies! Can I name this one since Jenny isn’t here right now?”
   “Sure, honey. That should be fine,” Jenny’s mom said as she dropped this new fish into my bowl. MY bowl. The bowl Jenny cleans for me and gets new rocks for. Now I have to share my Jenny with this new fish. I thought I would be happy to have a friend. But I am not. What if Jenny likes this red fish more than a goldfish.
   “I want to name this fish … Ariel. Like the mermaid. Jenny loves that movie,” Rob decides.
   The red fish is just swimming there staring at me. Rob fed us so now they are gone. It is just the red fish and me now.  I don’t know what to say to her. Ariel is just swimming around the bowl like she owns the place. Does she think she is better than me because she is red?
   “What is your favorite color?” I heard a high voice say. “Mine is red. I think it is because I am red.”
   “You like colors?” I asked. “I love colors. I don’t think I could pick a favorite … But if I had to then I would pick the light pink of Jenny’s curtains.”
   “Who is Jenny?” asked Ariel.
   “Jenny is my owner. She cleans my bowl and gives me new rocks. She never forgets to feed me. Jenny doesn’t like colors,” I thought about what I had just said. “Well, I guess now Jenny is OUR owner.”
   “Jenny sounds really nice. Where is she?” Ariel asks. This fish sure asks lots of questions.
   “Jenny is at her dad’s house for the weekend. She will be back soon,” I tell Ariel.
   After this, Ariel is done asking questions for the night. We both swam around our bowl in the quiet of Jenny’s empty room. The room faded to black after the light had completely left Jenny’s window. Then we slept.
   When I woke up, Ariel was swimming laps around the bowl. Occasionally she ran into a green leaf, like I do. I think Jenny will like Ariel. Just as I thought about Jenny, her door opened. Rob came into the room lugging a big black suitcase behind him. It looked like Jenny’s, but Jenny wasn’t supposed to be home for two more days.
   “Mom, I don’t want to talk about it!” I heard Jenny yell. “Dad is the same loser he’s always been, and I don’t know why you keep making me go back there!”After hearing that I knew it was going to be a bad day. Jenny was upset. And the sun was not shining as bright through the pink curtains today.
   Jenny came sulking into her room seconds after she yelled at her mom. She came over to her desk and sat next to my bowl. Jenny had a big purple spot on her arm. She must have hit herself with something. I think those are called bruises. They can be either blue, green, black, or purple. That sure is a lot of colors.
   Jenny’s mom walked into her room and sat on Jenny’s bed.
   “I got you a new fish,” she said. “I thought it might make you happy when you got home. Rob named her Ariel, like the mermaid.”
   Jenny didn’t say anything.
   “Whenever you’re ready to talk I’ll be in the kitchen,” then she left.
   Jenny then got up and looked down into my bowl. She looked at me then looked over at Ariel. Then she started crying. She cried and cried as she looked over our fish bowl. Tears came down into the water. They kept coming. I don’t know how long Jenny cried. It seemed like forever. At one point she went to her bed and laid there, while still crying.
   Ariel swam over to me. We floated by each other. Neither of us knew what to do. We couldn’t comfort Jenny. One reason being we didn’t know what was wrong. Another reason being that we were fish.
   When the light behind the pink curtains faded, Jenny was still lying in bed. She had stopped crying, but she hadn’t gotten up yet. Jenny’s mom had come to check on her three times since Jenny had started crying. One time Rob brought her a cup full of a brown drink.
   As I watched Jenny, I started to wonder about what had happened at her dad’s home. This wasn’t the first time Jenny had come home from her dad’s crying. Jenny actually cried a lot. Mostly at night. Jenny would always cry during school time. She would come home and talk about the mean girls. Jenny said that they didn’t like her for some reason. I don’t know how anyone couldn’t like Jenny.
   I was starting to fall asleep when I saw Jenny get up. It had to be kind of late because there hadn’t been any light come from the curtains in a long time.
   Jenny came over to our bowl and fed us, because Jenny always remembers to feed us. Ariel and I swam up to the top of the bowl to get our food. When I looked back to Jenny’s room, she was gone. Maybe she went to get her glasses so she could take those things out of her eyes. I decided to go to sleep so I could wake up early to check on Jenny.
   I woke up to the sound of a scream. I opened my eyes and Ariel was at the edge of the bowl, looking out of Jenny’s door that was covered in photos. I swam over to Ariel so I could see what she was looking at. All I could see was the bathroom door. I glanced at Jenny’s bed, but Jenny wasn’t there. That is weird, because Jenny likes to sleep.
   I heard Jenny’s mom, say “Rob, hurry go get the phone.” Then I saw a sleepy looking Rob run out of the bathroom. I heard crying, which was probably coming from Jenny’s mom. Rob came running back with the phone in his pudgy, little hand.
I heard Jenny’s mom say, “Help, yes … my daughter … she took some medicine … I need an ambulance … please hurry.” Ariel looked at me with a worried look on her face. She and I swam close together to comfort each other. I knew Ariel loved Jenny even though she hadn’t known her long. Ariel seemed like a nice fish, maybe because she was red.
   Not long after Jenny’s mom made the call I heard these loud, wailing noises. I saw two big men run into Jenny’s bathroom. A minute later they came out, holding Jenny on a long bed. I didn’t like the way Jenny looked. Her skin was whiter than usual and her eyes were closed; Jenny is normally awake by now.
   A couple minutes later I saw another man come inside. This one was hugging Jenny’s mom, who was crying. I heard him say, “I’m sorry, there was nothing we could do.” I didn’t know what this meant because I didn’t know what needed to be done.
As the day went on, Ariel and I swam around the bowl, waiting for Jenny to return from wherever she went. I could hear what sounded like someone crying, but I wasn’t sure. Ariel and I discussed colors, and what we would be like if we were people, like Jenny.
   When the lights behind the curtains faded, Jenny still wasn’t home. Jenny’s mom came in to Jenny’s room and sat on Jenny’s bed and cried. Just like Jenny had done last night. I knew then that something was wrong. Jenny’s mom doesn’t cry. Jenny cries, but never Jenny’s mom. Jenny’s mom always comforts Jenny when Jenny cries.
   Jenny’s mom stayed in Jenny’s bed all night. And all day the next day. This went on for four days. During none of these days were Ariel and I fed. During none of these days did Jenny’s mom move. During none of these days did I see Jenny.
Five days after not seeing Jenny, I saw Rob. His eyes were red and his hair was messy. He picked up mine and Ariel’s bowl with his little hands and carried us across the hall to his room, where he sat us right next to his blue bed.
   Rob’s room was red with racecars on the walls. There were a lot more colors than Jenny’s room. I do miss Jenny’s room, but Rob said to Ariel and me, “This is where you will live now.” Then he fed us.