Ernie C. was not my first pet, nor was he my last. He did not do much. He pretty much just stayed on top of my refrigerator. He was the smallest pet I ever had, and he was definitely the shortest lived. Ernie C. was with us for less than 24 hours, but the lessons he taught me will stay with me for much, much longer (like until the end of the month).I received Ernie C., a beautiful and graceful specimen of a goldfish, as a gift from a friend, which taught me about friendship. Someone else thought I was responsible enough to care for another living thing. My friend was proven wrong in less than a day, but it is the thought that counts, right?

Sure, I’ve had pets before, but my parents usually did the bulk of work of caring for them. This time, I was on my own. I had to do everything. Clean his bowl. Feed him. Give him love. Whatever he needed.

Just getting him home was an arduous task. Ever tried driving across town with a fishbowl full of water? Ernie C. almost took a trip onto the dark gray carpet more than once, but my fatherly instincts kicked in. I scooped him out of mid-air, kissed his little fish lips and gently placed him back in his watery home.

When Ernie C. arrived at my apartment, I placed his bowl where I knew we would meet often, on top of the refrigerator. When I ate, he ate. It was just the beginning of our bonding.

I knew very little about keeping a goldfish alive, so I went to a source I know will never lie to me, the Internet. What Web sites such as petlibrary.com and goldfishconnection.com told me was that I had the wrong food, the wrong bowl in the wrong location and the wrong water. But what do they know? Ernie C. was my responsibility and he was going to live how I wanted him to. So, I got up from the computer and checked on Ernie C. He was still alive, swimming around.

It was getting late and my eyes were getting heavy. I stopped at Ernie C.’s bowl just before heading to bed to say goodnight. He was not tired and wanted to talk. He wanted to say thanks for taking such good care of him. He asked me about my life, how school was going and why my apartment was so small.

“I thought I had it bad in this bowl,” he said. “That was until I saw your apartment.”

We talked late into the night about life, water, girls, breathing, etc. That night I learned that my life was not all that different from his. We both considered food our number one priority and life is really about just staying on the move and not becoming stagnant. We also both agreed that we needed to find a bigger place.

The next day Ernie C. and I ate breakfast together, and then I left for school. When I returned that afternoon, we watched “Pardon the Interruption” on ESPN together. Ernie C. agreed that those guys are cool.

Belly up. That is how I found Ernie C. when I went to feed him supper. I assumed it had something to do with the wrong bowl, food, water or location. Anyway, it was my fault, and I had let down a new close friend.

After a few words and a burial at sea with due honors, Ernie C. left my life forever. His bowl still sits atop my refrigerator, empty, like the hole in my heart.