The Tails of Great Ulysses

In an attempt for both Davis and me to get a bit of exercise we have perfected a morning shuffle that usually involves Davis heading the the water super early and then coming home to watch Oliver while I get to spend some time doing whatever it is a decide to do in the morning. Oliver, thankfully, chose this morning to sleep in -- I was lacing up my sneakers when Davis asked, "Where is Ulysses?" (Ulysses being one of our fish and a member of our family for close to a year and half). Flippantly I responded that he was in his tank - where else would a three inch goldfish be? I guess I should have realized that Davis would not be asking the question if Ulysses was still in the tank. The next few minutes were a crazy blur - the two of us trying to locate Ulysses, the whole time wondering 1) how could a goldfish get out of the tank and 2) how far could a goldfish actually get? Our frantic search ended when Davis located Ulysses on the floor behind the sideboard - Ulysses had managed to get more than three feet from his home! Davis scooped him up and I suggested that Ulysses be flushed, quickly, before Oliver got up and I began trying to determine how to find a similar fish before Oliver noticed that Bo Bo was the only one in the tank. Davis interrupted my muttering to announce the Ulysses was alive. Alive?! The fish had been out of the water an untold period of time (it was 6:30 in the morning and he had last been seen in his tank at 9:30 the night before) and had fallen more than four feet to the floor, landing a good three feet from the tank, and (I think I forgot to mention) was encased in a dust bunny.

The first few minutes back in the tank were rough for Ulysses but he appeared to get his swim back after a bit - which was great because one of the first things Oliver did when he woke up was to go and say good morning to Ulysses and Bo Bo (I'm not sure he would have bought the whole, Ulysses is on vacation bit).

Tonight Ulysses is staring out of the tank towards where he fell. I've put something on top of the tank in case he decides to venture out again. Although Ulysses defied the odds today (and perhaps last night) I'm still a bit worried about the little guy and am also worried that I may have to spend some of my day at pet stores trying to locate an impostor.
Ulysses is the orange and white fish, Bo Bo the orange one.