Agreed on prolapse, but “anal” is similar to “moist” — it makes other words guilty by association, e.g. moist discharge.
Thanks for the kind words. A few people have told me that this story made them laugh at their own depression, which feels pretty good, like, the opposite of depressed.
You can't fool me with a Chinchilla! Just as cute (had one once) but likes to spend all night running on a squeaky wheel while flinging poop pellets through the bars on their cage onto the floor. She lasted one night in my daughters room then was relegated to the basement where I was again the one to clean her cage....mom always was the one to take care of all the animals once the thrill was gone. Taking care of my kids' dogs as we speak. No longer have the rats, tortoises, hedgehog, parakeet, Degu, or electric eel though.
My son (who had many fish tanks in my basement), bought "sparky" the electric eel on ebay! She grew to be probably 4 ft long and as big around as Thor's upper thigh (as I imagine it 😏) After I became the caretaker during the pandemic (lots of Tilapia fillets from Sam's club), I reached out to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago (I'm about 2 hrs south). After a few discussions, we transported her up in a large cooler. The Amazon rainforest exhibit now has her there. They told me Sparky was a she as she got into a tussle with a smaller male and that they did an ultrasound showing follicles. I could be a grandma now!
I'm thinking that prolapse is a much more cringy word than anal. Also, this may be one of the best essays on depression I've ever read.
Agreed on prolapse, but “anal” is similar to “moist” — it makes other words guilty by association, e.g. moist discharge.
Thanks for the kind words. A few people have told me that this story made them laugh at their own depression, which feels pretty good, like, the opposite of depressed.
Wonderful
Thanks for reading, Tom! And for the kind word.
You can't fool me with a Chinchilla! Just as cute (had one once) but likes to spend all night running on a squeaky wheel while flinging poop pellets through the bars on their cage onto the floor. She lasted one night in my daughters room then was relegated to the basement where I was again the one to clean her cage....mom always was the one to take care of all the animals once the thrill was gone. Taking care of my kids' dogs as we speak. No longer have the rats, tortoises, hedgehog, parakeet, Degu, or electric eel though.
Electric eel?! What was that like? And how the hell do you transfer it from one take to another?
My son (who had many fish tanks in my basement), bought "sparky" the electric eel on ebay! She grew to be probably 4 ft long and as big around as Thor's upper thigh (as I imagine it 😏) After I became the caretaker during the pandemic (lots of Tilapia fillets from Sam's club), I reached out to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago (I'm about 2 hrs south). After a few discussions, we transported her up in a large cooler. The Amazon rainforest exhibit now has her there. They told me Sparky was a she as she got into a tussle with a smaller male and that they did an ultrasound showing follicles. I could be a grandma now!
An electric eel romantic comedy…someone ought to write that story.