|
It's okay, he questions everyones stories except for the great ones. I've been too tired most of this week and only getting a few hours of sleep so I couldn't update, but I caught up on some sleep, so here goes.
Part 5: choosing a name
It did take a few days to reach the center of the rice paddie. I could tell Longfin was trying hard to go slow and was feeling anxious from it. "Look, you are only swimming with your pectorals. Put your tail into it!" He instructed me. I wasn't used to swimming like that because before my tail was too big for that to work, but I decided to try it. After that we made better progress.
I was shocked when I reached the center. It was surounded by rocks, and if you swam through a hole you found yourself surrounded by these rocks in a really deep spot. It was roughly 4 feet, just a pit in the paddy that stretched 8 feet across. There were lots of Bettas and fights were constantly breaking out.
"Try to avoid everyone else for the drought. Otherwise you'll get hurt... come, I know a spot where I stay every drought." He led me into a hidden clearing, you had to go through a certain rock to spot it. "I'll train you like you asked here in the drought. Then I'll allow you to choose your name."
__________________________________________________ ______________
A month later the water was at its lowest. It was only around 6 inches deep in the deep area, and outside of it were mainly scattered puddles. In that month longfin had shown me much.
He taught me how to move faster. He taught me many fighting moves, defensive moves, and how to avoid a fight. He also told me that I would have to establish a territory because nomads don't last long, and that I may have to fight for it. Eventually there came a time when Longfin asked the question I knew he'd ask.
"What would you like to be named, Betta?" He said. The question caught me off guard, but I was willing to answer. Before I did, he said, "Remember, you are bright white and managed to survive in the rice paddy. You are supposed to have long fins yet yours are short. Take facts about yourself into consideration before you choose your name."
I thought. I had to practice battle moves at night because if I practiced in the day I would stick out too much. I loved watching the sun and moon move in there cycle, and my tail was shaped like the moon. That made my name pretty obvious to me, but first I wanted to hear what wild names are like. "Can you give me some examples of wild names?" I asked.
Longfin looked at me suspiciously and said, "okay." He looked up at the moon and said, "Redscale, greentail, shortfin, round tail, things like that."
Then I knew what I'd be. No, who I'd be. "Then I have decided. I want to be called Moontail." Longfin nodded. "Then the ceremony will be held tomorrow."
"Wait, there's a ceremony?" Iasked.
"Of course! If a Betta is named after 3 months he has to have a ceremony." Longfin replied. "Until that ceremony you still don't officially have a name, so I will juust continue to call you Betta."
I thought, and I realised something. Names must be really important... I can't wait until I get mine...
|
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
Similar Threads
