Maddie looked up at me with wet, almond eyes. “Please, Aunt Colleen.”

She didn’t even need to say another word. She could have been asking me to peel the skin off my own ass with a cheese grater and I would have said yes. I nodded and hugged her, kissing the top of her head. She smelled sweet. Like cookies and grass.

Breaking free from my grasp, she ran to her room returning soon with a piece of notebook paper and crayons. In a child-like handwriting, she scripted these words:

I, Colleen Katna, promise to care for Annie the Crayfish to the best of my abilitees. I promise not to let Red or Bebop eat her and to feed her everyday. I will also change her water once a week.

Below these words (where yes, my name was spelled wrong), I signed my John Hancock. Maddie had another crayfish (named Tom) before she bought Annie. Annie and Tom did not get along…hence the reason she had to reluctantly give Annie away. To me. The house otherwise known as “the zoo.”

You might remember Red’s obsession with fish from several months ago. He is obsessed with fish. And so when we walked in the door with Annie, he just about knocked me over trying to get his nose pressed up to the glass. In the morning, I ask Red, “What’s the fish doing?” and he charges the tank, just to get a glimpse at Annie. I even put his bed over next to the tank (which I’ve now placed eye level, just for Red) so that he can lie down next to her.

At first, I thought Maddie was overreacting with her concern about Red eating the crayfish…but now, seeing his obsession with her, Maddie might have had a point. Besides crayfish are tasty, tasty little buggers.