The Cat eyed, the Fish in a bowl. Walking in front of the counter that the fishbowl sat on. The Cat walked back and forth. The Cat did this often, waiting to get a moment with alone the Fish. The Cat did this during breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The Fish had only arrived here three days earlier. Did the Cat want to eat the Fish? Or just make friends?

It was dinner, so the Cat's family was eating and talking.

Malcolm

"Do you like you're new fish, Malcolm?" Mom asked.

"Yes, mommy, can we get him a friend? He looks lonely?" I asked. I don't want my fish to be lonely.

"Maybe, let's just wait a few days." She answered.

I nodded.

"I forgot to thank you for taking me to the fair yesterday; if we didn't go, we would've never gotten Sam. So thank you, I had a lot of fun." I told them.

"You're welcome. You named it Sam?" Dad asked.

"Yeah."

"That's a nice name for a fish." Mom said.

I smiled. "Thanks. Can I feed him?" I did some research, and goldfish had to be fed twice a day with a pinch of fish food. That's no problem for me; I have small hands.

"After you finish eating." Mom told me.

So I ate quicker because I didn't want my fish to starve.

I noticed my Cat Sarah pacing back and forth by the counter that my fish was on. I hope she doesn't eat Sam.

I put my dish in the sink and grabbed the fish food. I fed my fish a pinch of food. Then got ready for bed.

Sarah

Soon the Campbell family left the house. Now I was alone with the Fish. Finally...I've waited forever.

I made my way to the fishbowl and jumped up on the counter.

The fish looked at me. "Hello, I'm Sam."

I grinned. "I'm Sarah."

"It's nice to meet you."

"You too." I sniffed the bowl from the top.

"You're not going to eat me, right?" Sam asked, sounding a little scared.

I smiled. "Why would I do that?" I sat next to the bowl.

"Well, cats are known to eat fish."

"It is tempting, but I know that I would be punished if I did so. Plus, Malcolm likes you; he would be very disappointed if I ate you."

"Great then. I've always wondered what it would be like to be a mammal-like you."

"It's fun; you get to go outside and meet up with friends. You can explore and run. You can be free but try not to get lost. Make sure you know the way back home." I told the Fish.

Sam nodded. "Wow, that all sounds wonderful. Maybe you could take me on an adventure?" He asked.

I intend to protect the fish. There's no way I'm letting him leave the house.

I smiled. "Sam, I couldn't possibly do such a thing; you could get killed, you know?" He needs to know the risks.

Sam looked down. "I know, so your answer is no?"

I nodded. "It's for your protection, so please do not get mad at me." I feel bad now.

Sam looked sad. "Alright."

"It's clear you only want to leave the tank because you're lonely, but I heard them talking about getting you a friend. So you won't have to leave the tank." I told Sam.

"I know. It's true that I'm lonely. But I just want to see what the outside looks like one more time. I just want the chance to explore outside of the house. So I'll have stories to tell my new fish friend. Whenever they get here." Sam explained.

Now I felt more guilty.

"I understand, but safety comes first. I'm going out to explore. Will you be alright by yourself?" I asked. I didn't want to leave Sam unless that I knew he was going to be alright.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Go have fun." He smiled.

I smiled back. "I will." I jumped off the counter and headed towards the doggy door. I don't know why they have a doggy door but no dog. Oh well. I took one last look at the same before going through the doggy door.

Sam

Sarah left me alone in my thoughts.

Why didn't she give me a chance to explore?

I don't think that she realizes that sitting in a fishbowl all day gets a little boring because it does.

I am the only one left in this house!!!

Calm down, I told myself. It's alright, just wait until Sarah gets back, then you'll have a friend; So I waited.

Sarah

After hunting for mice, I caught one and enjoyed the meal. My hunting instincts never went away. Even though I have a home, I still get hungry. I live the best to both worlds; it's fantastic. I meet up with my friends.

Meet James, a black cat. He sat on a rock in my backyard. My yard is the meeting place.

Meet Kim, a white poodle with brown eyes. Her hair was beautiful and wavy. It makes me jealous.

She came to my porch; I guess she went through the doggy door from her house.

Meet Ana; she is a white bunny. She is brave to be hanging around us; bunnies usually run and hang with other bunnies. But this bunny is different.

She was in the field eating grass. Bunnies are constantly eating; they need energy.

"Hey Kim, James." All four of us met up. "Hey, Ana."

"Hey, Sarah." They all said.

"We recently got a fish; his name is Sam. He wanted to see what it was like to explore as a mammal does, but I said no." I told them. We all sat in a circle.

"So, why say no?" James asked.

"Because I could get in trouble. Sam could get lost, or he could die, and it'd be my fault. I can let that happen to an innocent fish." I cared for Sam. "You think I should take Sam out to explore?" I asked.

"I'm just saying that it would make the fish happy if you did," James said.

"Yeah, plus you wouldn't want to break a fish's heart, would you?"Ana added.

I looked at Kim for her opinion. "I agree with James and Ana."

Their persuasion worked; they have a point here.

"Plus, we'll help you if you do consider it," Ana said as James and Kim nodded.

"I guess we could try. How would we get him around?" We discussed and planned how we would get Sam around.

"When are we doing this?" Kim asked.

"Tomorrow, because we'll have more time," I told her. After that, we talked about other things and hung out some more. Then I went home. I guess Sam would get his wish, and I couldn't believe that I was going through this plan.

I jumped up on the counter and sat next to Sam's bowl. Sam looked happy to see me.

"Hey." I greeted.

Sam turned away from me. I guess he's still mad. "I understand that you don't want to talk. But just listen; I might be able to take you out to explore." Sam turned to face me.

"Really?"

I nodded. "We planned everything out to make sure that this goes successfully and smoothly."

"This is so awesome; I can't wait!" He squealed with excitement. "We're going today, right?"

I shook my head. "Tomorrow, we'll have more time because the Campbell's will be home soon."

"Oh, well then, I can't wait till tomorrow!" Sam said, still excited.

Sam

The next day we waited till the Campbell's left to explore. I was so excited, and I was looking forward to today. I will remember this day as soon as the Campbell's left, Sarah met me on my countertop.

"Are you ready to explore?" She grinned.

I nodded. "Yes, come on. Let's go!"

After I said that, Sarah wasted no more time. She got me in a bag that was filled with water and had it tied. It looked safe enough. Then she picked me up and took me out the doggy door that led our house.

I hadn't been outside in four days. I saw the grass, the trees, the sky, birds, and flowers. It was lovely.

Sarah kept carrying me until she met up with a black cat, a white bunny, and a white dog.

"You must be Sam; it so nice to meet you!" A white bunny said as she sniffed the bag that I was in. This bunny was tiny.

"Hi," I said nervously.

"Yes, this is Sam, everybody." Sarah introduced. "Sam, this is James," she pointed to a black cat. "Kim," she said to a white poodle. "And Ana." She pointed to a white bunny—the one who greeted me earlier.

"It's nice to meet you, Sam," Kim said.

I smiled. Why am I acting so shy?

"Welcome, dude," James said.

"Thanks,"

"Let's go, guys; we need to make sure that Sam has a good time today," Sarah said, then picked me up with her mouth.

"Oh, can we take turns holding Sam?!?!" Kim asked.

"Sure," Sarah chuckled.

They took me around town, we went to the park, a parking lot, and got kicked out of the store! Kim and James got a chance to hold me.

Soon we were home and back in our back yard.

"Did you have a great time, Sam?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, I did. Thanks, guys." I said.

"You're welcome," Ana said.

"No problem," James said.

"Can we do this again? I don't want this to be the last time we do this?" I looked up at Sarah, who was grinning.

"I don't know, but I sure did have fun."

I looked down at the ground. I guess this was the last time we were doing that. I'll go back to being bored.

"I'm just kidding, Sam; of course, we can do it again," Sarah said.

I smiled. "That would be great." On the outside, I remained calm, but on the inside, I was thrilled.

"Guys, I gotta take Sam in now," Sarah said. She said goodbye to her friends and took me back to my fish tank. Once was back in my fish tank, Sarah and I waited for the Campbells to return home.

We were a little late than usual. But they finally came home. They weren't alone, though; there was something in a bag of water. It was a fish! I got a friend; I got a friend! Yay, I'll never be lonely again!

They also bought us a new and bigger tank.

Sarah smiled. "I think you're getting a friend, Sam." She told me.

"Yeah, I'm excited. I wonder what they'll be like." I said.

"Friendly, hopefully."

First, they set up the bigger tank. They put rocks in the bottom and filled it up with water. Then they put the light on and put me in a bag to get adjusted to the temperature. The other fish was in the bag. After a while, they released us and let us be. There was a castle in this tank and more room. I saw the other fish. They told me that he was a French angelfish, and they named him Tyler.

"Hi, I'm Sam," I said, swimming a little closer to Tyler. He was by the castle.

He gave me a disgusted look. "That's close enough. Hey, do me a favor and stay on that side of the tank."

I was shocked he didn't have to be so rude. I looked down. "Why?"

"Have you ever heard of personal space?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Good. This is just like that. My side, your side. Don't cross." He swam back into the castle. "Good night!"

Great, I feel like an outsider in my tank. They got me a new tank and a new friend. The tank is excellent. But the friend isn't.

Could things get any worse? Well, at least tomorrow, I'll be able to hang with Sarah and her friends outside again.

Once the Campbell's went to sleep, Sarah jumped up onto the counter, started sniffing the tank.

"Ahhhh! There's a cat! She's going to eat us! I'm not ready to die!" Tyler screamed. Wow, he's just a big sissy. A mean one, though.

"Relax, she's not going to eat you. She is a friendly cat." I laughed. "Hey, Sarah!"

Sarah smiled. "Hey, Sam. It's nice to meet you, Tyler."

"You too. Sally, goodnight!" He replied.

"It's Sarah." Sam corrected. "Tyler isn't very nice. As I just discovered. Anyways, I can't wait for tomorrow."

"Same." She replied. "It's cool."

"I don't care what her name is. Now be quiet; I'm trying to get sleep here!" Tyler yelled. Someone's cranky.

I mouthed 'bye' to Sarah, and she left the counter.

Sarah got me into that bag and met up with our friends. We decided to go into the city today. I am a lucky fish.

Everything moved fast, and there were a lot of people. People found it weird seeing a fish in a bag and a cat holding it. But I didn't care; I was having fun. A little kid tried to steal me from Sarah. Sarah kept moving away and protected me. But the kid wouldn't stop. Where was his parents anyways?

The kid cornered Sarah and stole me from her. Then he threw me into the ocean.

"Ahhh!" I screamed.

"No!" I heard Sarah Scream.

Sarah

The kid just giggled and walked away.

I ran towards the rail. This kid just threw Sam into the dirty Hudson River. Ugh. The thought of going in there kind of made me shiver. But It was going to have to be done to save Sam.

Plus, if the Campbells don't see him in the tank tonight, Malcolm will be very disappointed.

"Sam, Sam! Can you hear me? Where are you, buddy? Oh no. I knew this was a bad idea."

"We need to jump in and find him!" James said.

"Ana, go home. We got this." Kim said.

"No, I wanna stay and help." She instead.

"We think you'd be safer if you went home," I said.

Bunnies can swim, but not very fast.

"Well, good luck." Ana hopped away.

Yeah, we're going to need it. I dived into the ocean. I looked for sam; he was at the bottom. I swam to the bottom and grabbed him. Once I resurfaced, I put Sam on land. "Ugh, I hate water. Are you alright, Sam?" I asked.

"Yeah, sorry about that, and thanks for getting me." He said.

"No problem. Anything for you, Sam." I smiled.

James offered to carry Sam back so I could dry off.

We made it home. I got Sam back in the tank.

He looked down. "I understand that I won't be leaving again." He said.

I nodded. "I'm sorry. If something like that happened again, I don't know if we'll be able to save you again."

"Well, thanks for keeping me safe."

Sarah nodded and went away.

Tyler started laughing. "Oh my. What the hell did you guys even do?"

"She took me outside for the whole day."

He laughed again. "Psh. That's stupid!"

I glared at him. "Well, at least I didn't have to stay in the tank with you!"

"Well, I don't like sharing with you either! Plus, I heard you two. You ain't leaving this tank again." He stated he was right.

"You know, I don't understand why you are so mean to me?"I asked.

"Well, you're just a goldfish, and I'm a French angelfish. You're so basic, and I'm more complex."

"So just because we're different breeds, you treat me bad, that's messed up. So, how do you feel about the little boy who owns you? Do you hate him too?" I questioned. I was getting mad and closer. I didn't know I could get this angry; I'll admit I was a little surprised myself too.

"Hey! Stay on your side of the tank!" He yelled.

"Answer the question," I said, not being able to contain my Anger; I ignored him when he told me to stay on my side of the tank.

Sarah

I came back into the kitchen when I heard Sam and Tyler arguing. I listened to the whole thing. I just choose to intervene now. I got up on the counter. I was on Tyler's side of the tank, and he didn't notice me. I took this opportunity to let him know I was here and scare him.

"Hello." I greeted.

Tyler jumped at the sound of my voice.

"What are you doing here. This business doesn't concern you. This is between us fishes." Tyler said.

"Answer the question, Tyler," I said, picking off where Sam left off at.

"I do like my owner." He said nervously.

"I don't believe you," Sam said.

"He's lying," I said.

"No, I'm not, heh." He looked up at me in fear.

"Prove it. What's his name?"

"Micheal, uh...Mike, no.....Moose!"

I shook my head. "No, none of those are correct."

You expect me to remember his name. I've only been here for eighteen hours." He scoffed.

"Sam knew his owner's name the second they brought him home."

"Yeah, well, what is it?" Tyler asked, getting defensive.

"My owner's name is Malcolm," Sam said proudly.

"Psh, yeah. Whatever."

I glared at Tyler. "You don't deserve Malcolm as an owner. Since Malcolm doesn't know that you don't care about him, so I'll do Malcolm and Sam a favor."

"Sarah, no!"

"You shouldn't have to deal with Tyler's disrespectfulness, and Malcolm deserves a fish who loves him."

"You'll get in trouble for this," Sam warned me. He knew what I was going to do. I guess Sam does know me.

"Well, it's worth it, Sam; you'll be happier for it, trust me." I turned to Tyler, who was in the corner. "I'm going to eat you, Tyler."

Sam

"What? No! You can do that!" Tyler swam towards my side of the tank.

"Yes...I...can." She grounded out.

I wanted to see what would happen if Sarah would eat him. I found myself grinning.

"No, wait, please. I promise I'll respect my owner. I promise I will remember his name!" Tyler begged.

"How can I believe you? Your actions don't match your words. I don't think you can change." Sarah said.

"I'm sorry," Tyler said as the last resort.

"It's a little too late for Sorry." In one motion, she grabbed Tyler and ate him. I was so shocked at how fast she did.

"Well, there no turning back now," I told her.

She swallowed with a smile. "I know. On the bright side. At least you have to talk to yourself."

She was right. "Thanks, Sarah."

Soon the Campbell's got home.

Malcolm walked straight over to the tank. He smiled when he saw me. Then he looked for Tyler. His smile disappeared when he noticed Tyler wasn't in the tank.

"Mommy, Mommy, Tyler is gone!" Malcolm cried.

"What?" She said, walking over to the tank. "How could this happen." She gasped. She probably realized that Sarah had eaten him. "I'm sorry, sweetie."

"No! That's not fair. Can I please get another one? Please?" Malcolm pleaded.

"I'll have to talk to your father." Mrs. Campbell said.

"Okay," Malcolm looked sad.

"Talk to me about what?" Mr. Campbell said as he entered the kitchen.

"Tyler's Gone!" Malcolm cried.

"What? How did that happen?" He looked into the tank.

Just then, Sarah came stalking into the kitchen.

Malcolm walked over to her and petted her. "Did you eat Tyler, Sarah?" He looked into Sarah's eyes like he couldn't believe that she had done it. He didn't want to think that she did. But he knew.

Sarah just looked at him. "So what, maybe I did." I hear Sarah said.

Meow.

"I think she did." Mr. Campbell said.

"But why would she eat Tyler only and not Sam?"

Because Tyler wasn't very nice, but they don't know that.

Mr. Campbell sighed. "I'm assuming you want another fish." He said to Malcolm.

Malcolm nodded. "This time, maybe another goldfish would be alright. Sarah seems to like goldfish."

"Alright." Mr. Campbell made eye contact with Mrs. Campbell, who nodded.

Before I knew it, there was another fish in the tank with me. This time a girl. She was beautiful.

"Hello!" She greeted. "I'm Sydney."

"I'm Sam; it's so nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Sam." She swam around the tank happily. She didn't care about boundaries, and she was way nicer than Tyler. "Wow, this is such a nice tank."

"Yeah, very spacey."

"I'm so glad Malcolm took me home!"

"Wait, you know his name?" I questioned.

"Of course, why do you ask?"

"Uh, no reason."

She laughed. "I'm also glad to have a friend."

I smiled. "Yeah, me too."

Then Sarah hopped up onto the counter. "Hey, guys." She said.

"A cat?!?!" Sydney asked; she looked scared.

"Don't worry; she's not going to eat us," I told Sydney.

She calmed down a bit. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Sarah. I didn't even know they had a cat." She laughed.

"Nice to meet you too, Sydney. You guys getting along good here?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, Sydney is very nice," I told her.

Sarah nodded. "Well, I'll leave you two be."

I told Sydney about the adventures I had outside my tank. She was very entertained by it.

Sarah

I'm so glad that this fish is nicer than Tyler. And if I didn't eat Tyler, then Sam would've never met Sydney. They would be an adorable couple. I'm also glad that Sam is happy; he deserves to be. I don't think Sam would be leaving the tank anytime soon; he has a new companion. A better one.

~Dominique