Freddie looked at the Silver Arrowana swimming gracefully in the fish tank.
It was a small Arrowana, which would grow more than ten times its size in the years to come.
Freddie is no stranger to this species of fish because his aunt, whom he visited often,
had a much larger Green-Tailed Arrowana.
He had watched that one grow from a little fish into a large and graceful creature.
His family had always loved fish. When he was about five years old,
his parents taught him how to keep a couple of goldfish in a tank.
However, as he grew older, he became fascinated by Arrowanas through frequent visits to aquariums.
His grandmother also had a part to play in his growing interest in Arrowanas because
she was always talking about how Arrowanas were supposed to bring good luck to its keeper.
As Freddie looked at the little fish swimming up and down its small, cramped tank,
he made up his mind to buy it. He approached the shop owner for its price and found out that it was a
staggering two hundred and fifty dollars!
He could not possibly afford it there and then, so he went home and pleaded with his mother to buy him the Arrowana.
His mother, surprisingly, was not a fish lover at all. However,
she agreed to accompany Freddie to the shop to look at the Arrowana. The Arrowana
grew on her the longer she stared at it.
After twenty minutes of observing the fish, she saw how Freddie could become so attached to it. She
forked out the money and paid for the Arrowana,
on the condition that Freddie would help with the household chores in return. Freddie agreed. |