Practice Writing

This One Sounds Like a 3rd Grade Essay

I'm cringing at the thought of posting this but I also kinda don't care. 🙃 I don't have a writing plan yet but I wanted to start all the same. So skip this please. Have mercy.

Last summer I went with my family to a large zoo. At said zoo is a pool where you can feed sting rays. It was never on my bucket list, but I couldn't pass it up. The pool is inside a building sets of double doors like an aviary. Upon entering, you cannot ignore the fishy smell. They keep fans blowing, but it's ripe.

The floor is wet like when you go to a public pool. Mats are placed around the pool to prevent slips. The pool itself is large and shallow, only a couple feet deep. Inside, the rays make rounds searching for a friendly hand offering a snack. Sometimes they swim over each other or up the side of the pool splashing water everywhere.

You get over the slight nausea once you cool off from the heat outside. There are two rows of sinks, one on each end of the room. Once you wash your hands in the first row, you are allowed to touch the rays. To touch them, you extend your first two fingers and hold them together. Rays are soft and slick like a frog.

I've always loved the beach and learning about animals. The rays seem playful and friendly. I took a video of them swimming past and over each other. I watch it often and hope I can go again sometime.

When you are done with the rays, you cross to the other side of the room and rinse off in the sinks there. Then it's back out unto the sun and heat. Most of my family was glad to get away from the smell. My youngest brother was afraid to even get close the the rays.

As for me, I was happy, but my hand began to swell up. I'm allergic to seafood and apparently the oils from the shrimp that others were feeding to the rays got into my skin. I had to find a bathroom to wash my arms off with soap. If I do get to go again, my allergy won't stop me from petting the rays again.