I'd tried multiple times to draw that fish. A lot of those drawings were intended for my art portfolio. But I never could capture the essence of my fiesty little friend. Figures now that his life is ending is the only time I can draw something resembling a crown-tail beta fish. The sad thing is that I'm going off a cell phone image of him. I can't even be there for his funeral.

And yes, I am fully aware of how 'silly' it must seem that I'm mourning a fish. But I don't care. He was part of our family for well over 2 years. And he was a cool fish. First one I had that jumped out of his water at my finger. And as I said, he was going to be part of my portfolio. He's a gorgeous one.

Plus...it's always depressing when they die. If you've ever seen them you know. There's nothing you can do except watch them struggle to swim and then...sink to the bottom. I felt terrible for one fish. Midnight. His death was absolutely terrible. I think he lived to be 3. He died because his eye popped. It got all buggy then...ugh. My poor baby.