Natasha and I have moved into a new bedroom at my parents'. It is at the bottom of a long stairway, the top of which would be right where the fireplace is in the redroom. This bedroom gives us a perfect view of a huge fish tank at the top of the stairs, one of mine that I had forgotten.

It has been abandoned for months at least, and most of the water has evaporated, down to only about a fifth of the normal water level. However, the fish are thriving, apparently even breeding. There is a huge eel in there, several feet long and at least two inches in diameter, sitting on the bottom. In the left rear are two different families of black spotted frogs, one with yellow spots and one with blue spots. A small turtle walks happily across the bottom. A huge school of neon tetras mills about in the middle.

I marvel at the success of these fish, mainly crediting the large tank. They haven't been fed in forever, and I postulate that the eel sneaks over and devours one of the frogs whenever it gets hungry.

The first thing they need is fresh water, so I'm looking for a bucket. I move lot of stuff around, clutter that's at the bottom of the stairs, to free up a large blue bucket. I start filling it with water, but it smells of chemicals. I need a white bucket (such as the special bucket I have at home for my fish). I find one, and get one bucket into the fish tank. It stirs up some detrius from the bottom of the tank, and the fish go after it excitedly, obviously very hungy.

I'm going to feed them as soon as I can get a little more water in there, but for some reason I still have trouble. I realize that I forgot to put chlorine neutralizer in the first bucket. I'm wondering if the eel will bite me when I try to put food in there. And how to feed him - surely he won't like fish flakes. And what about the frogs?