# A Betta Story



## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Just something I wrote this morning because I was bored and had nothing better to do. It's unfinished by the way, but will probably be finished by later today 
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It was cold. I sat at the bottom of my cup, my ragged fins clamped shut. When I saw something move out of the corner of my eye, I shot forwards in fright. My sudden dash stirred up a murky mess of pellets, and in my confusion I crashed into the side of the cup. Stunned, I shrank down, afraid of what might happen next. 

The cloudiness slowly settled, and I could see two humans watching me. There was the low rumble of voices, and then one of them reached forwards and tapped the side of my cup. The noise vibrated through the water, and if I had been stronger I would have spread my fins in challenge. But I was too weak to even flare back. My gills fluttered as I struggled to breathe, and I sat motionless at the bottom. Each breath burned, and it felt as if my scales had been rubbed raw. When the humans left, I swam listlessly around. It seemed like I had been here in this cup forever. I had all but forgotten what my life had been before I had come to this place.

On the shelf beside me there were as many cups as my eyes could see. Some of the cups had water so dirty I didn’t even know if there was a betta inside. Sometimes I wondered how long it was that we had all been sitting there, waiting for a human to choose us. 

In the cup closest to mine, there was a beautiful blue betta whose scales flashed with green. But his tail was a blackened stub, and he floated nose down, not even moving when a young human picked up his cup and shook it. I knew he was dead, but I still wriggled my fins at him, hoping he would move even just a little.

Just then, the human made a high-pitched sound, and there was a dull thump as the cup slipped through its fingers. Several bettas crowded at the front of their cups, murmuring amongst themselves. But they had not been here long. Their fins were still beautiful and strong, and they flared at each other and at us, as if we could even offer a challenge. They didn’t yet understand that soon enough those bright colours would fade, and their own strength would fail them.

Two more humans arrived, older than the first, and I could tell by the loud noise they made, they were angry. One of the humans whose voice I recognised scooped up the dead betta, and carried him out back. The murmuring grew louder, and I knew they were saying what we were all thinking. No fish had ever returned from out back. I circled the bottom of my cup uneasily; wondering if that was where we all would end up.

The next day, the water seemed even colder than before. There was a draft seeping up through the shelf, and the cold sucked at me, so that I couldn’t even find the strength to swim. At first light, two more bettas had been taken out the back. One of them had been my spawn brother, brought with me to this place. I watched him go, overwhelmed by a sudden feeling of terror. I darted frantically around my cup, trying to find an escape. I had to find a way out, before it was my turn to be taken. I banged into the sides of the cup, ignoring the pain from my torn fins. Finally, I let myself sink down to the bottom of the cup. My gills moved in and out, as I tried to catch my breath, and I knew if they came to take me now, I could not even fight back.


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## Bettaluver4evr (Jan 21, 2011)

You have a wonderful talent for writing! This is a sad story, but it is good too. Please let it have a happy ending?


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Thanks, I will do a few more chapters when I get home from work tonight. I'm still deliberating between a happy or sad ending.


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## Bettaluver4evr (Jan 21, 2011)

Please happy? Haha. I don't want the poor little guy to die in the cup! (Wow, I'm wierd. It's not even a real betta and I'm concerned. Yikes! Haha.) Although that might be kind of realistic... oh well.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

*Betta Story - New Title "A Second Chance"*

The day passed slowly. So many humans moved outside my cup that I soon lost myself in the hum of their voices. Occasionally, a cup was lifted from the shelf by one of the humans whose voices I recognised, but I was given no more than a cursory glance. Eventually, one of the humans pushed me further back onto the shelf, and I found my cup behind that of another betta, an angry-looking male who flared at me when I asked him his name. 

Outside, it had quietened until I could see only one or two humans left. I had been resting at the bottom of my cup, when I became aware of female human crouched down by our shelf. It seemed to watch us for a very long time, and it made me feel uneasy. Just then, it reached for my cup, and I moved sluggishly away, wanting only to be left alone. But it was insistent, and I knew there was nothing I could do. It dragged my cup forwards, and I let myself be carried by the churning water. It said something to a bigger human standing nearby, and I could see one of the humans who fed us approaching with a net. 



There was moment of darkness, and then a flash of bright light. I could feel myself moving for what seemed like a very long time. Something nearby was making a loud roaring sound, and I cowered at the bottom of the bag, looking to my human to protect me. The noise abruptly stopped, and I cautiously swam around the small bag, unsure of whether to fight or hide. 

There was the distant rumbling of voices, and then with a rough jerk, my bag was pulled high into the air. I was afraid, and I darted around, trying to make sense of where I was. The humans made a sound I recognised as laughing, when I swam blindly into the side of the bag, and then I was moving again, so fast I could only snatch a glimpse of the world outside my cup.

A door slammed shut, and the bright light suddenly dimmed. As my eyes adjusted, I could see dozens of bettas in bowls so cramped there was no room to stretch their fins. The water in these bowls was only one or two fish-lengths high, and murky, as if they had not been changed in a very long time. Fear filled me as the realisation of what was happening, slowly sunk in. At the sight of a dead fish, floating at the top of its bowl, I started to panic. I had been chosen, but this dark, freezing place, could not be the paradise the old ones had told us about. 

The bowl was barely larger than the cup I’d once lived in. Before I realised what was happening, the human lifted the bag up, and then in the next moment I was falling. The shock of the cold water knocked all the breath from me, and I gasped for air. Struggling to the surface, I felt the last of my strength evaporating. My panic turned to resignation as I started to explore my new home. I would die here, in a stinking mess of water and rotting pellets. No betta could live through the horrors that now awaited me. 

The two humans were making sounds at each other. They did not even turn to look at me as I swam around. I noticed another male floating limply in a bowl not far from mine. He must have once been fearsome with his huge, flowing fins. But now they hung uselessly, their tips frayed and curling. Even so, I flattened my own fins against my body and tried to make myself look as small as possible. *“What’s your name?”* I whispered fearfully, glancing over at the two humans. The male flared his beard at me, and I flinched back even though I knew he couldn’t get to me. *“No one,”* he said simply, and after that, he spoke no other word to me.

Part 3 will be coming soon. Working on it right now. And it does get happier ... eventually ;-)


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## BettasForever (Jan 18, 2011)

This is great! I'm sorry I copied your name.  I didn't see this thread...


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Haha don't worry, I couldn't think of anything to call it at the time and now it won't let me edit my post with the new title I thought of. 

Thanks for reading, I read yours the other day  I always lurk in this section waiting for betta stories so thought I may as well make one of my own.


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## Titus Flame (May 15, 2010)

LittleBettaFish said:


> Haha don't worry, I couldn't think of anything to call it at the time and now it won't let me edit my post with the new title I thought of.
> 
> Thanks for reading, I read yours the other day  I always lurk in this section waiting for betta stories so thought I may as well make one of my own.


How about you call it, The Betta Tale, or something.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I called it "A Second Chance". I bolded it and made it the title of post #5 since I can't edited the original post.


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## Bettaluver4evr (Jan 21, 2011)

Wow, you really are a wonderful writer. Man, this poor imaginary betta had better get a wonderful home, pleeeeease? Hehe. I love realistic stories like this, but I love happy endings too.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Don't worry. I've already written the ending and it's a happy one. Now I just need to fill in the gaps in the meantime.


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## Duncan13 (Nov 7, 2010)

nice story!!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I couldn’t remember the last time the water in my bowl had been changed. My gills and fins burned, and I scratched myself furiously on the gravel, trying to relieve the pain. The light was so dim, it was hard to tell if it was bright or dark-time. Even so, I could see my brilliant silver colouring had faded to a dull grey, and it had been so long since I had stretched out my fins, I was afraid they would wither like that dead blue-green male. 

I spent my days sulking at the bottom of my bowl. There was something wrong with the two humans. They often made loud noises at each other, and sometimes the way they moved, reminded me of two males posturing before a fight. The female human often spread her fins at the male and darted away when he came too close. I wondered if that was how they mated, and I watched the human male jealously. 

He didn’t seem to understand what he was supposed to do with the female once he had her, and so I started working on a bubble-nest, hoping to show him how it was done. Sun-Tail, the male in the bowl mine next to me, was watching, and I flared my beard at him when I caught him blowing bubbles at me. He flared back, and forgetting my bubble-nest, I tore over to the other side of my bowl and attacked him fiercely through the glass until I finally conceded defeat. 

*“You are getting stronger and stronger every day,”* Sun-Tail panted. He had blown his tail with all his flaring, and I gloated to see how much effort it had taken for him to beat me. When I opened my fins fully, I could see they were almost as long as his, although the very tips were torn and black with the first sign of rot. After that I spent the rest of the day patrolling my bowl, frightening the other males, none of whom were as big as me or the monstrous Sun-Tail. Sun-Tail was amused by my boasting, but when we fought again later that bright-time, it was finally me who was victorious. 

I had been sleeping, when the water in my bowl suddenly rippled and I was thrown almost completely out. There was a strange noise coming from somewhere nearby, and I spread my fins open in fright. I could see Sun-Tail slowly circling his bowl, and when he spotted me, he flashed up his dorsal fin in reassurance. *“It is only the two humans,”* he said calmly. *“They were chasing each other again. I think the female is going to get a good nipping this time.”* Looking around, I could see none of the other bettas seemed troubled by the male’s aggression. But I still felt nervous. I hoped the female had submitted, and not let herself be too badly torn up by the male. 

However, no one came to feed us at dark-time, or at the next light-time. The damp and cold crept into our bowls, and I spent most of my time drifting near the top. It hurt when I went up for air, and even Sun-Tail grew more and more subdued as the day passed. He didn’t answer when I asked if the humans were ever coming back, and when he heard me asking one of the other males, he looked so ferocious I was terrified he was going to jump into my bowl and attack me.

Here's some pictures I found of what the two main characters, Silver-Scale and Sun-Tail look like:


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## Bettaluver4evr (Jan 21, 2011)

OOOOOOH, that's great! Love those pics, really great story. More, more, more!


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## bettamaniac (Jan 6, 2011)

is the betta who is telling this story silver-scale?


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