While I was changing his water last night, I noticed that he did not seem to be acting his silly old self. He did not greet me this morning when I woke up and I panicked. I found him on his side at the bottom, breathing heavilly with a bloated stomach. I freaked and squirted a large dose of prime into his tank. That's what saved him when he was in a similar condition nearly a year ago, but I think that was more for my sake because I knew there couldn't be anything wrong with the water. I already had a 3 gallon dosage of ground up anti-bacterial meds so I slowly added that to his water. I attatched a heater to his tank because it was about 76*F and a little chilly for him. I watched. Only a couple of minutes later, he stopped breathing and was gone. I said my goodbyes, and gave him a little kiss between the glass....
The funeral was a very nice one. I found a naturalistic cardboard soap box for the casket, and I splashed in some sparkly blue glitter. I made a little bed from tissue and gently laid his body onto it, then put him in the box. The box was tied up in a bow with a blue velvet ribbon, and a stellar yellow daisy slipped underneath. Above the grave I made a rainbow of wild flowers and foliage- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple- all connected into a never ending circle. I was silent through the entire burial, with thoughts only in my head:
Goodbye my little Orchard. Who knew such a small fish could bring such joy to me. You had a rough life in the start, but I did my best to care for you. You kept me company on lonely days. You taught me to never give up. Your wiggle dance always made me smile. 2 years was too short, but oh so much you did. Goodbye Orchard, I'll always remember you.
Orchard, you will be missed but never forgotten! 
I know how you loved Orchard. He had a wonderful life with you as his care giver. 
You always did you very best for him, but his time had come to leave you. It sounds like you gave him a beautiful funeral and a lovely goodbye 
