I said the story about the guy who sued a magazine for using an image of him saying all hipsters looked the same, only to find out it wasn’t actually him was going to be the dumbest story we published today, but this one is certainly up there as well.

Images VIA

We’re over in Bonaire, Georgia for this one where 4 year old toddler Everett Hamlin has accidentally murdered his best friend – a goldfish who was bought for him by his father Corey when he was just a few months old. Everett has always been fascinated by the fish but the other night he grabbed it out of its tank to give it a cuddle in bed.

Unfortunately Everett didn’t realise that taking the fish out of the water for so long would eventually lead to its death and woke up next to a dead fish the day after. Everett’s mother Tori explained what had happened:

I was shocked at first, but then when he said he just wanted to pet it I was thinking, oh my god, that’s so sad. I didn’t think it was funny that he killed it.

He had no understanding of what he was doing. Honestly, I’m surprised he caught it. He’s got some good skills there.

He loved the goldfish. It’s always been in his bedroom. He loved looking at it. He’s never tried to get it before it happened that night.

I explained it to him again and he said, ‘that’s alright. We’ll have to get another fish and I won’t touch it. I’m only allowed to touch fish when I go fishing’. I said, ‘yep, that’s right’.”

Everett has to do stuff like that to learn. Not every kid listens to their parent and learns from that. Sometimes they have to make mistakes to learn from them. It’s part of parenting and growing up.

He’s always loved fish. The fish was bought specifically for him. When we got it for him, he could look into the tank and enjoy looking at the bubbles and the lights.

We had that goldfish for so long that when we bought it he was orange and by the time he died he had outgrown all the orange. It was so crazy.

Most people don’t have goldfish for that long. We’ve always been big fish people. We take care of our fish. He lived a longer life than most goldfish.

I mean that’s kinda cool but it’s still a pretty sad way to go. RIP to the goldfish – which bizarrely doesn’t seem to have a name? – but at least Everett has learned a lesson from it I guess. That’s something.

For more of the same, check out this vet that just gave a goldfish braces. What?