One day, when Jeff went to feed Elliot, Elliot decided to tell Jeff how much he hated that bad-tasting food.
Poking his head out of the water, he said, "Mister Jeff? Can I ask you something?"
"Of course you can, Elliot!"
"Why do you feed me these nasty flakes while you cook those wonderful meals in the kitchen? Am I not good enough to get any of the good food?"
Mister Jeff thought about Elliot's question for a minute, then said, "Well, if I tried to give you what I eat, you'd die. Fish can't eat the spices I put in my food."
Elliot felt bad. "Oh. Okay."
"But," Mister Jeff said, "I can give you some before I cook it! How would you like that?"
"Oh, yes! That would make me very happy, Mister Jeff!" Elliot was very pleased. Mister Jeff picked up Elliot's bowl and carried it into the kitchen, placing it on the counter near the stove.
"Now just wait right here, and I'll go get the meat." Elliot nodded. Mister Jeff stepped away to the refrigerator, and pulled out something wrapped in plastic. Elliot could not see Mister Jeff open the package, but watched as he grabbed a big knife and chopped at something hard, making a loud crunch.
Mister Jeff turned around and smiled big at Elliot, and placed something in the tank. It looked familiar, Elliot thought, and he swam up to the thing.
He tried a nibble.
It was just as amazing as he thought it would be! Elliot nibbled, again and again, and Mister Jeff watched, until Elliot was so full his tummy felt like it would burst.
"Did you like that, Elliot?" Mister Jeff asked when he saw Elliot had finished eating.
"Oh, yes! I liked it very, very much!" Elliot had never been so happy in his life.
"Good! I'll leave the rest of that there for when you get hungry later."
"Thank you, Mister Jeff!" Elliot said with a big smile.
"You're very welcome! Now, I'm going to bed. Good night, Elliot."
"Good night, Mister Jeff! Sweet dreams!"
Later that night, Elliot woke up, tummy grumbling. He decided to have more of the thing Mister Jeff left in his bowl for him. He ate until he was full again, and noticed that all that was now left of the thing Mister Jeff gave him was a few big white sticks. Elliot didn't know what they were, and decided to fall back asleep.
The next morning, when Elliot woke up, he noticed something strange: the water in his bowl was now red! Elliot loved the new color, as it was very pretty. He waited for Mister Jeff to wake up and give him some more food, but nothing happened. Eventually, some men that Elliot had never seen before came to the house and took away the sticks from his bowl, and one of them took Elliot home with him.
Mister Jeff never came back. Elliot missed him for the rest of his life.
