How I got my Betta Fish (a how-to guide on getting a pet)

It was a cloudy Sunday morning. I was leaning against the window. I was not in the best mood that morning. I had just been refused a dog. Each time I asked for a dog, the answer was a stubborn 'no'. The exact dog breed I really wanted was a golden retriever. Maybe a poodle even. First of all, my dad is against dogs and then our house was carpeted in all of the rooms. And there was a chance the dog might pee on the carpet. Secondly, our house is small, so the dog would not have much play-space in the house. We could fence our backyard but that's costly. Finally, we travel a lot, and having a dog would be difficult to manage during the trips. So the expenses for a dog are too high. In fact, the dog itself is about $4,000 to $5,000, if we buy it from a breeder. 

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

I was devastated when I learned the costs and maintenance of a puppy. So, soon after, I reluctantly stopped talking about it. For a brief period of time, after that, I then entertained the subject of a hamster. But, then I learned that there was not a small hamster that is good for beginners available at my local pet store. Also, we did not have a good place to put a hamster villa. And I did not want a hamster to live in a small space like a small cage. 

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

After about a week, even that subject was dropped. So, I was sulking on a cloudy Sunday morning. Then I decided to just get on my computer and look up some random cool facts. That always made me feel better. I looked through a list of twenty facts. The last one was this: "betta fish can breathe on land." First of all, at that time, I did not know what a betta fish was. I wanted to research a little deeper into the subject. After lots of research, I found a perfect website for information about betta fish. There were many helpful discussions on betta fish care. There was even a section where you can ask any questions about the fish care. Click on the link below if you want to visit the website: 

https://bettafish.org/

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

As I found out more and more about betta fish, I started to portray them as cool pets. If I can't have a dog or a hamster, why not a fish? What I did first to get the attention of my parents was this: I would drop random facts about bettas at random times. Though, I would not recommend you do this because it will seem that everything you ever talk about is a betta fish. 

Soon, my parents got the hint that I really wanted a betta fish. One night, I was asking my friend how she convinced her parents to get a dog. There was one simple explanation: She made a slideshow. The slideshow had to include these three simple things: the cost, what are the benefits to your family, and why do you want a fish (pet). This slideshow trick works for all. In my case, I made a separate slide for each of my parents. Here are a few things one should include in the pet slideshow:

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

1. The cost for everything (including the pet itself.) For example, if you want a dog, include the cost dog too.

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

2. You must include why you want a pet. For me, I said that I get lonely at times. If you are not a single child does not use this excuse. 

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

3. Include benefits of getting the pet. I included both health and emotional benefits for me and my parents.

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

Here is my slide show to convince my parents:

Click on the link below if you want to visit the website I learned everything from: 

https://bettafish.org/

Those were the things you must include in your slideshow. If you do not want to do a slideshow then you can write an essay or speech. What my family did, is take a video of my presentation and post it on my personal youtube channel. We sent it to all our family members. If they thought the slide show was convincing enough, they could vote 'yes'. If 95% of the people we share video with, said yes, then I would get a betta fish. So, I got 95% approval within 30 minutes of sharing the video. 

Well, loyal readers, this is how I got a betta fish on Oct 25th, 2020.  I am also attaching a picture of my betta fish named Luv (nicknamed LuLu.) 

You can recommend this idea to your family members. 

 I am also attaching a video showing some other ways to get a pet. 

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

Love Kaayana.

The Haunted Shed on the Hill

 

THIS STORY IS NOT FOR CHILDREN UNDER 10 YEARS OF AGE. IT IS VERY GRAPHIC. 

 This is a great scary story for sleepovers, it is especially good if you live in a neighborhood with a house that has a shed.

It becomes even scarier if you put scary music in the background.

Once upon a time, under the black willow, there was a small, creaky shed. It had once belonged to an old widower. A big flood was then washed over the land, and neither the mansion nor the widower was seen again. All that was left of the house was the shed. It resided at the top of a hill. A scary hill it was. The hill could take the soul out of you. It could crush you!

On Halloween nights, children made it a tradition to go up to the shed and knock on the door. As soon as they knocked, they vanished from view. Worried parents waited all night for their beloved children. But the youth never came back. After a few years of this happening, it became clear that the shed was not safe. Youth and adults avoided going there even on Halloween nights.

Later, one Halloween night, a headstrong nine-year-old boy named Dale stupidly decided to go into the shed on the scariest night of the year. Dale's friends (who were also stupid) dared him to go inside the shed; little did Dale know that this Halloween would not go as expected...

 

Dale slowly climbed the scary hill. He had brought a recorder just in case… The other end of the recorder was with his friends. He looked around, the grass was dark and gray unlike the rest of the neighborhood. A layer of low and gray fog settled over the hill. Dead trees lined the hill. And finally, the shed was in sight. The shed looked like it had come out of a horror movie. It had was made of gray wood and you can easily say it was about to fall apart. Determined to prove to his friends that he was not scared of anything, Dale confidently ventured to the broken shed. 

Once there, before he could even knock on the door, the door creaked open. 

Use the sound effect to spook your audience. 

Dale stepped inside. He barely had a chance to look around before he fell. Down, down, down. 

His whole life flashing before him. When he reached the floor, he looked around. Before he even got up, he turned on the recorder he had gotten so that his friends would know he is in trouble. The floor was made of concrete and the walls were wooden. Two torches gave an organized glow to the room. A brown door was on the left side of the torch. Dale thought that the door would lead him out of here. So, he slowly opened it. The room was dark, and bodies of children who had come before him laid on the floor. Blood was dripping from the ceiling. Suddenly, he saw a figure. It had red eyes and hair covering its face.

You can cover your face with hair or a black cloth to increase the amount of fear.

It was coming towards him, inch by inch. Dale wanted to scream, but no sound came out of his mouth. He wanted to run but was frozen in place. It was as if there was the figure kept him as still as ice. He saw red hands coming from the dead children with a red knife. It was wearing a white gown, stained with blood. The last thing children heard on the recorder on the other side was a bloodcurdling scream and a cold laugh. Then the recorder went static. Silent as it could be.

The shed still stands. Now, it is out-of-bounds. Dale's ghost now roams around the shed, warning children not to make the same mistake as he did on Halloween 2020.