_sarah_

Once upon a time, there was this little blue fish named Fluffy.

Fluffy had some personal goings-on that nobody really knew about, and that was okay, but he decided to announce that due to these goings-on, he would be leaving the Happy Aquarium.

After he announced this, everyone cried and sobbed and moaned and groaned and wished him well. They all prepared for his departure and resigned themselves to Life Without Fluffy.

Well, a couple days later, Fluffy came out of his house, and his bags weren't packed! He wasn't moving away! Everyone was so HAPPY and JOYFUL and EXUBERANT. They hugged Fluffy and said things like, "Yay... you aren't leaving!!!"

After the excitement calmed down and everyone returned to their Happy Fish Lives, Fluffy approached the group and said, "Um, guys... I think I want to leave again, but I'm not sure. This could be the last time you speak to me. Or not."

And there was much moaning and sadness and more pleas of, "Fluffy! Don't leave!!!"

But, there were fewer this time, as a few fishies weren't really sure if it was for real or not, and the vagueness of the statement put them on guard.

As the "I'm going" and "I'm leaving" continued through the weeks, the fishies began to take Fluffy less seriously, and it just became annoying. They loved Fluffy...they really really did love him, but they wondered, "Why the constant back and forth? Is it really that hard to decide, or is it just fishing for compliments and sympathy in some weird veiled request when all the fishie had to say was, 'Gee... I really need some hugs right now... I'm going to hide out for a bit and then post in a few days when I feel better.'"

The fishies continued to ponder this and continued to ignore the "crying wolf" until one day, Fluffy did leave, and hardly anybody noticed or cared since they had become immune to the cries.