Betta Storytime....diary Of A Betta Fish

Hey everyone on Fishlore!! This is just a little something I typed up when I was bored. It's kind of like the diary of my betta fish, Shy Guy. Hope you enjoy! I will keep updating periodically.



A Betta’s Tale

DAY 1: This is so boring, I think to myself. I look through the circular walls of my container and flare at my shelf-mate, the one I call Largetail, who good-naturedly flares back. I look over to the section marked by a sign with strange scribbles on it. The sign looks like this: TROPICAL FISH. This is boring, I think again. Why don’t I get to be in a big tank like the others? I swim around and around the small confines of my container. Largetail flares at me again, but I don’t pay him any attention.

Suddenly, a sound attracts my attention. WHOOSH! The doors that sometimes carry people into the building fly open, and two humans, both female, hurry into the building.

“It’s really raining!” says the smaller one.

“And I don’t have a hood!” retorts the larger one.

“Hey, mom,” says the small one. “There are the bettas!” The small human run-walks over to my section. Look at me! I beg her, wiggling my tail for good measure.

“Wow, this one looks healthy,” says the large one, whose name apparently is Mom. She picks up a container that holds a fish with a coloration similar to Largetail’s, except that this fish is bigger and his tail forms a D shape when he flares.

“He’s pretty. Let’s look some more, though,” says the small one.

“Okay, let’s look over here,” says Mom, turning over to my area.

Yes!

But to my dismay, Small Human picks a fish whose container is much higher than mine, about 2 shelves up.

“Look at this baby girl,” Small Human says. “Isn’t she pretty?”

No! Me, look at ME!

The female flares her fins and darts around energetically.

“She might be a keeper,” observes Mom.

“Just a sec,” says Small Human. “Look at this one! An elephant ear!” She picks up another container with a short-finned male inside. His pectoral fins, however, are absolutely HUGE and look like they’d be fun to nip. “Oh, no; this guy’s got fin rot,” Small Human says sadly, putting the container back. “And this one’s got swim bladder,” she says, pointing to yet another container, shaking her head. “Poor little guy.”

Look at me! Look at me! I dart around my container and flare again at Largetail.

“Hey,” says Mom. “Look at this guy. He’s small: must be young. And healthy, too.” She reaches near me; she reaches over my container -- SHE’S GOING TO PICK ME UP -- but then she picks Largetail. Largetail gives me a satisfied flare.

“Yeah, he’s cute,” says Small Human absently. “Oh, but look; he’s a doubletail; they can have swim bladder problems. And I do not want to deal with that.”

“Well, alright,” Mom says, putting Largetail back on the shelf.

“Hey, look at this guy!” Small Human finally picks me up and holds my container up to the light.

“He’s small too; he must be maybe four months old? Nice young guy.” I flare, showing off my fins, and to my delight, Small Human laughs.

“Flaring, aren’t you? Aggressive little guy.

Yes! Yes! Yes! Pick me! Take me home!

“Hold on, though,” Small Human says to Mom. “Let’s talk to an employee and see if there’re any other bettas.” Small Human and Mom walk away from me.

No! No! Come back!!

After what seems like an eternity, Small Human and Mom come back with another person. Oh, I know her, I think. She’s the one who feeds me.

“So, which one?” asks Small Human. She picks up my container, then Largetail’s. She gives them both to The-One-Who-Feeds-Me.

“Well,” says The-One-Who-Feeds-Me, “This one’s smaller, so he’s probably younger,” pointing to Largetail. “But then again, they’re pretty close. And doubletails can be shorter anyway.”

“Yes,” says Small Human. “You know, I think I’ll go with this crowntail,” she says, holding me up. “What do you think?”

“Beautiful,” says Mom. “I like his color.”

“Yeah,” says The-One-Who-Feeds-Me. “He looks really healthy.”

“Let’s get him!” exclaims Small Human, gently taking my cup and Largetail’s from The-One-Who-Feeds-Me’s hands. She puts Largetail back on the shelf and takes me towards another human behind a counter, dressed in a similar style to The-One-Who-Feeds-Me. The human holds me under a red light for a moment, and then there is a beep. “There you go,” says the human who waved the light. “Have a good day!”

“You too,” say Mom and Small Human.

We go through the whooshing doors, and then I feel something pounding on the lid of my container.

“That’s rain, little guy,” says Small Human. I wiggle my tail at her. Yes, I tell her. I’m happy to be out of there!

“I swear, Mom,” says Small Human. “That fish is looking at me; he wants to talk to me.” Small Human laughs. “Crazy little guy,” she says affectionately, running her finger down my container. Now we are at a big metal box with 4 doors. Small Human and Mom get into the doors and sit in the big box. Small Human cups me in her hands as she fastens something around her waist and torso.

A loud noise makes me jump!

“Sorry,” says Mom. “Gotta start the car.”

The metal box that we are in suddenly begins to move backwards, then just as suddenly lurches into forward motion. Hey! Hey, guys, we’re moving, I frantically tell them, just in case they didn’t already know.

“Aw, you’re so cute,” says Small Human. “It’s like you’re trying to talk to me.” She sighs and turns to Mom. “What should I name him?”

I can see that Mom shrugs her shoulders.

“You’re not an Anakin,” she says, turning to me. “You’re not a Banner.”

“Blue?” suggests Mom.

“No…” says Small Human. I feel a wave of sadness come off of her. “It’s not fair to make him live up to Blueflame’s name. He was a pretty special fish.”

“Buddy?”

“Lad?”

“Daniel?”

“Amos?”

“There’s a really cool Russian name that means ‘fighter,’ except that it’s 5 syllables and I have no idea how to pronounce it.”

The metal box bumps, scaring the wits out of me.

“Danny Blue?” asks Mom.

“Eh..” is Small Human’s response. “Maybe I’ll wait till we get home to name him -- see what fits his personality.”

I see no point to the two humans’ talk -- none at all. I stretch myself, then stare hopefully at Small Human; maybe she’ll drop food from the sky like The-One-Who-Feeds-Me always used to do.

0000000000 - at the house...


“Well, buddy, this is your new home,” says Small Human. “And I’m Danielle, by the way.”

Oh. I thought you just called yourself Small Human, I say.

Small Human -- er -- Danielle, puts my container into a large tank that’s filled with plants.

Yes! Finally a huge tank of my own! If only Largetail could see this! I enthusiastically dive for the bottom of this tank, desperate to explore, but my nose hits something hard and I back away because now my entire face hurts. I’m still in the container.

Above me, Danielle laughs. “Not yet, buddy, not yet.

I stare up at her. Why is she doing this to me? I want to be free! I pace my container restlessly. I see a leaf sticking out of the side of the tank, and that looks like it would be fun to lay on at night. I wish that Danielle would let me go so that I could explore my new home!


0000000000 - 15 minutes later…



Danielle drips some of the water in the tank into my container. The extra weight makes me sink a little, and I can just stick my face over the rI'm of the container. The water in the tank is warmer than what’s in my container and I want out of there and into that large, wonderful tank! I stick my nose further and further out of the container...and then WHOOSH! A big black thing sucks me out of the container and pushes me down to the bottom of the tank. I don’t mind, though, because now I can explore!

I find a bubble caught in the mild current from the black thing. It’s trying to get to the top but it can’t; so I bite it just for fun.

Tire o that, I swim around the rest of my tank.

I stick my nose in the blue stones at the tank’s bottom.

I rest for a while in a green plant.

I lay on the leaf on the side of the tank.

There is a big building on one side of the tank, but it casts a shadow and it scares me so it’s evil! I stick my nose into the big, evil building but reel back quickly -- the thing scares me.

Suddenly, I hear a noise. Danielle comes over to the tank and I freeze, thinking that maybe I’m in trouble for something. Danielle reaches into my cup, then gasps and searches the tank for something. I quickly swim to the top to help her look, then Danielle laughs at me. “Oh, you little rascal,” she says. “You escaped your container! Smart boy,” she says affectionately, gently tapping the glass.

I’m still not sure what to think about her -- she’s loud and makes thumping noises when she walks and hasn’t dropped food from the sky yet -- so I retreat behind the black thing to scope her out from a safe distance.

“Aw, poor little shy guy,” shy simpers. Then she smiles. “Shy Guy, that’s it! That’s your name, buddy!” she says. “Shy Guy, Shy Guy, come on out, little boy!” she taps the glass as she says the name, my name, I realize. I think that she wants me to come to her, so I swim to her very slowly.

“That’s it!” she says, and then she drops food from the sky! It tastes like my poop, though, so I spit it out and don’t try to take it again.

I sense disappointment from Danielle and I hopefully waggle my tail at her. I’m sorry! I say.

More food drops from the sky, and this time, it smells like worms, the worms The-One-Who-Feeds-Me always used to drop down! I snatch up the food and chew it, wiggling gratefully at Danielle.

“Good boy,” she murmurs. “That’s my little Shy Guy.”

Danielle reaches over to a small black box that’s hanging on a cord outside my tank. I hear a click, and then the light over my tank goes dark.

“‘Night, Shy Guy,” says Danielle. She then crawls onto a pile of blankets. After a little while, she quits moving around on the pile and is quiet.

I stare at her for a while. I then swim over to the leaf-hammock and lay on it. Everything becomes dark and blurry and warm as I relax in the dark.

 

This will be fun! I may do this with my future sorority!

 

This will be fun! I may do this with my future sorority!

You should!

 

HA! THAT IS BRILLAINT!! I have got to do something like that... I've hit writers block on my stories so I need something to get the juices flowing again. That is the best, I can totally see everything happening. Love it.

 

Alrighty...Here's an update!! (If you haven't read this previously, read DAY 1)

DAY 2:
I am NOT ready to wake up yet! I say as Danielle turns the light on. I blearily swim over to her -- maybe she'll feed me! -- but no. She taps the glass with her finger, and I swim to it. She then puts her face against the glass and stares at me -- It's a little disconcerting, but I don't blame her; I stare at her all the time.
Danielle walks around, checking out the tank. So, I flare at her -- This is MY territory!
"Don't flare, Shy Guy," Danielle says, laughing. She then turns away and rearranges the pile of blankets she slept on last night. Why don't you buy a tank for yourself and sleep in there? I ask her. It's much more comfortable.
She walks over to me again, then -- Oh Yes! -- drops the worms from the sky!! I gobble it up, then look at her in dismay. I need MORE!!
"Sorry, Shy," she says. "The number one cause of death for bettas -- overfeeding."
I stare at her in noncomprehension. I swim back and forth and flare just a little to tell her that I'm a growing boy and I need more food -- I'm starving!
Danielle laughs again. "You're going to make me late for school." She taps the glass affectionately. "See ya, Shy."
Danielle walks away. I stare after in dismay; I dart around the tank in hopes that she'll see me and come back.
Nope.
Tired of that, I go and explore my tank some more. I swim too close to the big black thing, marked by scribbles that say: TETRA WHISPER FILTER -- and my tail is pushed down by the current from it. After I right myself, I give the black thing a big flare, to show it that I'm the boss. I swim around and around the plants in my tank, wishing that Danielle, the Small Human, would come and drop worms.
Now I'm bored.
I'm so bored that I even dart through the big evil building, just to take my mind off of Danielle and how much I miss her.
After a while, Mom comes in. Are you going to drop worms? I ask her.
Mom doesn't listen to me, though, but she puts her finger on the glass.
"How are you, Fish-Fish?"
No, I tell her. My name is not Fish-Fish, my name is Shy Guy!
Mom smiles at me, so I wiggle my tail at her in hopes that she'll feed me. Please? Please? Please? I beg her.
Mom smiles again, taps the glass, then leaves.
I flare at her disappearing form disgustedly; she should've known that when I wiggle my tail, it is time to feed me. So I figure that Mom must not be very smart. Sighing, I swim up to my leaf-hammock for a breath of air, then I let myself float lazily, half on my side.
Where was Danielle?

TO BE CONTINUED....

 

Following....can't wait for more

 

Following....can't wait for more

Thanks so much! Will update more tomorrow!

 

"Mom must not be very smart" HAHAHA!! Oh man that is priceless.

 

ANOTHER UPDATE:

I am awakened by thumping noises -- that must mean that someone is coming up to the room that Danielle shares with me. I stretch, and dart over to the edge of the glass to greet whoever-it is.
"Shy! Hey, boy!" calls a familiar voice.
It's Danielle! My girl is home!!
Hi! Hi! Hi! I cry out, bumping my nose against the glass in my enthusiasm. Where were you? How are you? I ask. Then, I remember a much more pressing concern. FEED ME! I scream as loud as I can. I swim to the top of the tank for emphasis, looking pointedly up at the surface of the water.
"Hungry?"
Feed me, I'm dying! I respond.
Danielle smiles, but doesn't give me any food. I puff out my gills at her to show my displeasure. I pace the walls of my tank and show off my fins to get Danielle too look at me more. She laughs, taps the glass affectionately, and then leaves. Leaves!!
"I need to do my homework, Shy," she says.
No! Come back!!
By swimming over to the far end of my tank, though, I can see that Danielle has not left our room; she is sitting at a white thing at the other end of our room -- I believe she called it her desk -- and there is lots of stuff spread out on it. She is staring at the stuff, but I don't know why; it doesn't look like it would be good to eat. Now she takes out something made of wood -- it's long and think and has a sharp point -- and she takes this out and begins scratching at the white stuff spread out on her desk. I watch her curiously, wondering what she's up to. As she gets up and stretches, my mouth opens in surprise. The long wooden thing has made grey-colored marks on the white stuff! This is amazing! I wish I had that stuff in my tank for something to do when Danielle goes away to do the thing called "school."

 

Alright, no update yet...I've got a bucket load of homework -- and some massive writer's block.
So I'm asking all of ya'll: where should I go next with this story?
Thanks!

 

Maybe shy needs a friend? a snail can entertain him while small human is at school.

 

Maybe shy needs a friend? a snail can entertain him while small human is at school.

Maybe!

 

NOOOOOOOO.......... FINISH THE STORY. JUST AS I GOT CAUGHT UP IT IS FINISHED. WHY DON'T YOU FEED HIM...WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I feed him!!

 

I feed him!!

oh ok........give him a buddy...mines love to pick fights with the guppies I got....but the 2 guppies always scare him off

 

oh ok........give him a buddy...mines love to pick fights with the guppies I got....but the 2 guppies always scare him off

Yeah, I have been thinking about maybe putting an african dwarf frog in the tank with him, but anyway, where do you think I should go with the story?

 

What a great story I'm hooked now

 

ANOTHER UPDATE!!!

The days come and go; the light over my tank is turned on and off too many times for me to count. Gradually, I learn to adjust to the loss of Danielle to the thing called "school."
Some days, though, she forgets to wake up for school, and I have to pace and wiggle and flare to wake her up and feed me!
"Shy-Shy," she says now, coming up to the tank after she gets home from school, "Look at this video." Danielle holds up a screen of some sort to the wall of my tank, and I swim curiously over to investigate.
Suddenly, the on the screen starts to move!
I shy back, startled, but just as quickly move back forward to watch whatever new form of entertainment Danielle has planned for me.
"And this is our Super Black crowntail betta," comes a voice. I look around curiously, wondering where the voice is coming from, then conclude that it must be coming from the screen in front of me.
All of a sudden, I see a deathly black fish in front of me on the screen! It's not looking at me -- so for the moment I'm safe -- but still, it's invading my territory so I give it a HUGE flare! I wiggle and pace and bite, trying to get to him, forgetting that I can't because I'm trapped behind the glass walls of my tank and that he's trapped inside the screen, but still.
Then, just as suddenly as the black fish appeared, the screen goes dark, and I hear the reassuring sound of Danielle's laugh.
"That's enough for now, Shy Guy," she says.
I look up at her quizically. What was that? I ask.
Danielle laughs again.
I swim over to my leaf-hammock and sigh. Why did she do that to me? Humans are just so complicated.

 

Yeah, I have been thinking about maybe putting an african dwarf frog in the tank with him, but anyway, where do you think I should go with the story?

-probably he finds a mate and is proud if his babies ?

 

^I second that idea

 

Do NOT put an adf in there with him. They can nip your betta's fins, and your betta can nip its toes. Also, adfs aren't very good at finding their food so your betta will probably outcompete it every time and your frog will go hungry.

 

Do NOT put an adf in there with him. They can nip your betta's fins, and your betta can nip its toes. Also, adfs aren't very good at finding their food so your betta will probably outcompete it every time and your frog will go hungry.

Thanks!

 

*Waits creepily for the story to continue*

 

I absolutely loved it! I want to do something like this now!
Good job on this, it was so funny!

 

It's back!! Mwa ha ha!

Something is wrong with Danielle. All she does, all she’s been doing for the past few days, is sitting in her pile of blankets and making short, sharp noises into her arm. When she tires of that, she stares at a small black thing she calls a “laptop,” glued to its small screen. Sometimes, she turns, and I get a glimpse of the screen -- she’s watching something called “All My Pets” or “Betta Fish Aquarium.”

It first started to scare me when she didn’t wake up on time for school.

Danielle, I tell her. Danielle, it’s time to get up; you have to go and do school. Not that I want you to go, I add silently.

She doesn’t say or do anything other than make one of those alarming noises that sounded like she was choking on a -- WAIT!!

Mom! Mom! I cry. I need Mom in here!

It seems like forever until Mom finally comes into our room with an orange bottle in hand.

“Danielle, it’s time to get up,” she says, shaking her. “You need your Delsym.”

But that’s just it! She won’t get up -- she’s choking on a bloodworm!!

But after a few seconds, Danielle does sit up and drink a portion from the orange bottle. She makes the noise again. When she turns her head into her arm she happens to catch a glimpse of my tank.

I wiggle my tail furiously at her; I go back and forth to try and catch her attention. Are you okay? I ask.

“Aw, hI buddy,” she says in a hoarse voice.

Ahuhugg -- there was that noise again!

“I forgot to feed you!”

I recognize the word “feed,” but for once I don’t care about the food. I just want to make sure that Danielle is alright!

She opens up the lid of my tank and drops flakes from the sky. I gratefully snap it up, but then look at her in concern. Are you sure you’re alright?

She laughs, then ahuhuggs again. “You are a crazy fish. I swear it’s like you’re trying to talk to me. I wonder what you’re saying.”

As crawls back into bed and begins typing on her black “laptop”, I sigh and swim over to the leaf-hammock and let myself rest on it. I hope that Danielle gets better.


0000000000


All that was yesterday. Today, Danielle was much better, though she still lay around moaning in her pile of blankets all morning, staring at her laptop. She remembered to feed me and turn my light on today, though her hands reeked of chemicals, so I shied away from her as she fed me. I recalled her squirting some clear liquid on her hands earlier in the morning after she made the noise into her arm and wondered if that had anything to do with the chemical smell.

She still makes the noises like she is choking on a bloodworm, though, but at least she is sitting up instead of lying motionless like some of the dead fish at the big place that she rescued me from.

However, something was still strange. As soon as Mom woke up, Danielle immediately went down the stairs with her. I could hear a lot of banging and clanging, mixed in with Danielle’s strange ahuhuggs, and I wondered what was going on.

As the day progressed, neither of the two came back up to check on me, and I got lonely. But, amazing smells wafted up through the air vents in my and Danielle’s room, which reminded me that I was hungry.

After what seemed like an eternity, Danielle came back up into our room -- finally -- with a plateful of steaming hot food.

Ah, so that’s where the good smells were coming from!

Meat, white creamy stuff, pinkish sweet stuff, orange sweet stuff -- all of it made me want to jump out of my tank and onto the plate and begin eating!

“Happy Thanksgiving, Shy Guy,” she said amidst making a bunch of noises. As she said this, she dropped a ton of bloodworms in my tank!

I don’t know what “Thanksgiving” is, but bloodworms are certainly something to be happy about!


Happy (late) Thanksgiving, everyone!
(and just as a PS, I was actually sick on Thanksgiving! It kind of sucked, but I didn't actually have to eat upstairs like in the story. I just put that in there so that Shy Guy would know what was going on! Also, I wrote the story like I was seriously ill, but I really just had a little cold. But remember, this is from Shy Guy's perspective. From a betta's perspective, a cold would probably be like the black plague or something! )

 

I want pictures of shy guy o: He is your betta right?

 

I want pictures of shy guy o: He is your betta right?

Yep he is my beloved betta. Will post pics soon. Just have to get my mom to let me use her phone!!

 

Great story! I'm getting a betta too! Hope mine has just as much personality!
For Story: Tankmates.

 

Great story! I'm getting a betta too! Hope mine has just as much personality!
For Story: Tankmates.

If your betta doesn't have as much personality as mine, you can just write it in! This story is true, but how can I know what goes on inside a fishy head? So there's no guarantee he's not just thinking throughout all of it: Da hooman is de one hoo feed me. Feed me. I'm sure my fish isn't concerned for my well-being!!