With Number one's 6th birthday coming up, I asked Number Two what she would like to give her.
"A pet," came the unsurprising reply.
"What kind of pet?" I asked, fully expecting it to be a puppy/kitten/hamster/horse.
"A goldfish'" she said.
"It's a deal," I thought.
Number two is quite savvy. She had obviously worked out what kind of living creature she might get away with, and she was right. No objections to pets that kind be cheaply and easily replaced without anyone ever being any the wiser.
So the Saturday before the Monday birthday, Number Two and I set out to Lotte Mart at Seoul Station and headed for the pet department. We bought five fish, two plants, a bubble machine, some black stones and some food. Highly successful.
Took them home and put them in the vase we have, hidden in the bathroom (we have two, so Number One was not allowed in). But Number Two just could not stop talking about the fish. "When can we feed the fish, Daddy?"
"Oh, you are a silly one, what are you talking about fish for? ha ha ha" said Daddy, trying to cover up the give away at breakfast the next day.
Skyping the grandparents in the evening, she wanted to tell them what she had bought for her sister, so I took Number One away to chat in another room. After she had divulged her secret she came wondering through.
"And I am going to call the last fish Selina", she told us proudly.
"What fish?" asked the soon-to-be-birthday girl.
A noisy, change the subject tickle attack seemed to put her off the scent and she was delighted and seemingly surprised to be presented with a tank of fish the following morning. Sometimes life is so simple. Number Two received a comprehensive lesson in how to lie about things and keep secrets from her sister. Perhaps not so simple for the future.
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