The Waves Are Ours |Virgato|

Chapter 9: Aquarium

Chris now knew how afraid Joel was of water, but he knew the boy liked the aquarium. Right now, seeing the excitement on Joel's face as they walked towards it almost made him forget how afraid the other boy was of water.

Up ahead, he could see that people were lined up at the dark blue building at the end of a pier on the other side of town. Colorful fish and other sea life had been painted along the side of the building and Chris could have stared at it all day except for the fact that he wanted to see the inside.

They bought their tickets and went inside. Chris grinned right away. It reminded him of being in an underwater cave. Tanks lined the walls. There was one full of brightly colored jellyfish. He always tried to stay away from the jellyfish, so it was nice to see them in all their color without being afraid of them. He could easily see Joel's point. It was a great place to view things you were afraid of from a safe distance. Even for him, who had seen these creatures almost on the daily.

They came to another animal that Chris was almost certain he'd never seen before. It was a light grey color and looked a little bit like an oversized dolphin with a more rounded head. It had a small piece of lettuce in its mouth and was chewing on it repeatedly as it passed.

"What's this one?" I don't think I've seen one before," Chris asked curiously.

"It's called a dugong," Joel explained. "They were mistaken for mermaids by early European sailors," Joel told him without even reading the sign on the wall.

Mistaken for mermaids? Chris frowned. He couldn't really see how he could be compared to a creature like this. Perhaps the tail? That was about the end of it though.

"They don't look much like mermaids," Chris commented.

"Yeah, they look more like elephants if you ask me." Joel grinned.

"What's an e-" Chris started to ask, but decided to wait. He'd ask Richard when they made it home. He figured for a supposed marine biologist, it was bad enough for him to even be asking what this creature was. Joel didn't seem to have heard him though. He'd walked further along the glass where the dugong was and seemed to be. The dugong seemed to stop and turn to him before continuing on its path.

They stayed and watched the dugong for a while as it meandered around the area, continuing to chew on the lettuce leaf, and then another. He seemed rather content with just eating. Chris put his hand up to the glass and the dugong came over to the glass panel. It seemed so gentle, almost as if it came over just to see them.

He was a little sad when he read its story though. It had been in the aquarium's care since it was found as a baby. They'd raised it in the hope of allowing it to return to the ocean. Yet it had washed up on shore, thin and injured, so they nursed him back to health and kept him in the aquarium for the fear he wouldn't survive back out in the ocean. He couldn't help but feel a slight affinity to the creature after having washed up on shore himself.

Eventually, they left the dugong and headed down a long, dark, winding ramp. At the end of the ramp was a long tunnel. The entire top half of the tunnel was made of glass, with the rest of the tank surrounding it. There was a spot underneath where they could walk right underneath it. As they walked through the tunnel, Chris couldn't help but grin. He almost felt like he was back at home with the fish. Joel smiled, noticing the way the boy's face lit up, and Chris grinned at how happy Joel looked.

Everything was going fine until they came to an exhibit on sharks. Christopher's body grew rigid as he spotted one behind the glass ahead. Joel shot him a confused glance. Internally, Chris was screaming. This was not a good idea at all. He was petrified of sharks. They were every merperson's greatest fear. Joel pressed his hand up against the glass, mesmerized by the large creature.