After a trip to the shops one day, I arrived home with my brand new critter. I remember my sister owning one just like it as a child. I told him that my name was Lewis. He responded cheerfully. I named him Tuco, because of his high energy levels, like the character from Breaking Bad.
I wasn't sure how to control Tuco at first, he was a little bit too energetic. I kept doubting myself and telling myself I was doing everything wrong. But my girlfriend, someone who had owned a pet like Tuco when she was younger, helped me out and showed me how to take care of him properly.
After my initial teething problems, everything became hunky dory. I took Tuco for walks in the park where he played with others just like himself. They splashed in the water together and had fun. It was amazing how much energy these creatures displayed, I looked on with a smile on my face as I enjoyed a refreshing bottle of Mountain Dew.
As daylight faded I decided to go to the shop and bought lots of nice meals and treats for Tuco. He ate them up happily; he loved Hamburgers the most. I fed him five Hamburgers a day, I also fed him lots of lollipops for snacks. After he had been fed and night time came around, he would curl up and fall asleep.
He started to grow bigger. His rate of growth was astounding. He no longer looked like the small thing I had met initially. He still remained cute though. I still took him for walks in the park and bought him his favourite Hamburgers. He was so cooperative. I know people who have trouble controlling their pets, dogs and cats and whatnot. But Tuco never gave me any trouble. He responded happily to my every command.
Despite his cooperative nature, he wasn't perfect. He would leave poo everywhere, three turds at a time sometimes, but it was okay, It was extremely quick to clean up. He sometimes got ill too. My friends tell me how annoying and expensive it is to take care of their pets, but this little dude was totally stress free. Even his illnesses would pass just as quick as it was to clean up after him.
But as the weeks went by and the initial excitement started to wear off, I found myself getting lazy. The poo began to pile up and Tuco started to get ill more. The Hamburgers stopped getting bought, instead he got bread and milk for every meal of every day. He was perfectly content with this though. It started to dawn on me that he was a little too easy to satisfy. The reward wasn't there anymore. I didn't have to put any effort in to making him happy, he just was. I started to find myself feeding him and clearing up after him simply to stop him from making noise when I was working or sleeping in on a Saturday morning.
But he kept on making noise, until one evening I got sick of him making noise and did the unthinkable. I regretted it deeply, and felt terribly irresponsible but at the same time it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders: I took out Tuco's batteries and threw what remained of him in my desk drawer.
Remember: A Tamagotchi is for life, not just for Christmas.
