Tales from the Goldfish

My Flatmate, Fideline

I was just sitting around, minding my own business. I was alone and I liked it that way. I had friends, but they were always at a comfortable distance. That is, until my friend Lexi showed up. She had someone else with her whom I hadn't met. I paused before greeting them both. 

"This is my friend, Fideline." Lexi told me. "I can't find anyone else who wants to flat with her. It'll only be a short time and she's clean and really friendly.

I like Lexi and I didn't want to disappoint her, so I agreed. 

Fideline was smiling quite hard, but I didn't think much of it until she ran up to me and hugged me. I've never been much of a hugger. Lexi told Fideline to stop, and she did, but not before she had kissed me several times on the face. 

Lexi told me all about Fideline's dietary requirements and her favourite blanket while Fideline stood next to her and nodded repeatedly. 

Fideline might be a bit more outgoing than me, but I don't dislike her. She has a charm about her. When Lexi left, it was just me and Fideline. I wanted to sit down and play some cards but Fideline told me she wanted to go for a run. 

She would go out so often for no apparent purpose and she would drag me along with her. I never wanted to go, but I was always happy I'd gone, after the fact. For the first few months, she talked about how she missed Lexi, but she loved me just the same. 

Lexi always said she would flat with Fideline again, but she never did and one day, Fideline got really sick. It was only then that Lexi came back to see her. The doctor said Fideline only had a few weeks left but Lexi kept saying she would pull through. She took such good care of herself and she wasn't very old. 

But a few weeks later, Fideline passed away. We dug a hole in the back yard of my house. Only Lexi and I were invited to the funeral. We wrapped Fideline in her favourite blanket which had originally come from her and Lexi's house. After we covered the bundle in dirt, we flattened it out put the grass that was there back down, so the landlord wouldn't complain.

Fideline didn't have a gravestone, but her memory lives on in our hearts.