The Life and Death of Borice

Bob and Maurice
Jonathan and I don't have really significant pets (dog, cat, bunny, tortoise) but we did get some goldfish shortly after we got married. For some reason, Michael named them Bob and Maurice and the names stuck. Originally, Bob was a grayish brown color and Maurice was orange with a large patch of black on his back. Well, despite having an affection for them, as the months passed, Jonathan and I stopped really paying attention to them. Then, one day Jonathan happened to look at them. And he noticed something odd: Bob and Maurice were now nearly identical in color. Somehow, they had both become a pale shade of orange.

Borice
After some wild speculation on what could have caused this transformation, we gave up on explanations and accepted the mystery. As a reflection of their new identity as, well, identical, we christened them "Borice." We rarely referred to them by their separate names (partly due to the difficulty we had telling them apart) instead asking each other if either of us had fed Borice lately. Sadly, about two weeks ago, Maurice died and with him, Borice as well. Bob was left alone. So very alone. We won't admit to crying...

Deuxrice
Well, we couldn't let Bob be lonely, so a trip to Miejer's fish department ensued. We spent some time debating the relative benefits of white, brown or orange fish and then decided on a Maurice-like gold and black fish. We took him home and put him in with Bob, who he followed around. Bob didn't seem too amused. Anyhow, we figured they'd get along just fine and named the new guy Deuxrice ("Deux" meaning "two") so that we could still use the name Borice in reference to our fish.

Suspicions of Foul Play
Not that we want to put any unfair blame on Bob without a trial, but Deuxrice didn't last long. He died a couple days after we got him. Now, I want to give Bob the benefit of the doubt, but things are starting to look suspicious. Maybe Bob doesn't want company anymore. Maybe he secretly hates the name Borice and would like to be just Bob. Whatever the case, if "Tri-rice" dies shortly after we go get him, I for one will know just what to think...