Out of the Blue

2

The next morning, Stephanie's alarm went off at seven a.m. Not knowing what time she should be at work, she rushed to brush her teeth, pull her long, dirty blond, wavy hair back into a ponytail and freshened up her face with a little mascara. Running her hand around her ponytail and letting go at the end, Stephanie felt the tips of her hair swish across her lower back and she was ready to head to the aquarium.

Stephanie grabbed her bike out of the garage and began peddling her way to work. With the wind blowing through her hair and the crisp salty air streaming across her face and into her nose, she was imagining the summer that awaits her. Being able to surf during breaks, because the aquarium was along the beach, and caring for all the animals put a surge of joy in her heart. Also, seeing all the cute tourist guys was a plus, but knowing herself too well she already knew that she would only admire from a distance.

After a one and a half mile bike ride Stephanie finally reached the aquarium. The building was old. Aqua paint with a royal blue trim was faded on the concrete walls of the building and the sign saying " ALA WAI AQUARIUM" was chipping and fading away to the point that the lilac paint almost looked gray . She walked her bike into the bike rack and locked it up. The chiming of bells spread throughout the small lobby of the aquarium as she walked in through the screen door. A ceiling fan spun at blurring speeds, sending a light breeze down her way and her flip flops slapped across the wooden floors as Stephanie walked across the room. The aquarium opens at ten and it is now seven-forty. It was empty.

"Hello?" Stephanie annunciated. She walked to the front counter as footsteps begin to come closer. A couple seconds later a lady around late thirties or early forties with brown curly hair in a frizzy bun having curly tendrils fall infront of her ears and corkscrew pieces springing out of her bun. She was wearing khaki shorts with bulging pockets, probably filled with keys and who knows what else, she was also wearing an olive tank top with some yellow, brown stain on the left side of the stomach. I didn't want to know what the stain came from, but the lady was trying to hide it with what I imagined would be the mandatory part of the uniform a baggy teal button up shirt that she had unbuttoned and on the right side higher on the chest was the lilac logo. "Ala Wai" was embroidered in cursive along with a Hawaiian flower. If she had a hat on she would look like a park ranger. She had soft features with nude thin lips and kind gray eyes, welcoming Stephanie with a sweet smile.

" Why , aloha darling! You must be the new worker for the summer. My name is Darla Kay, but you can just call me Ms. Darla. I am the owner of Ala Wai aquarium, and what might your name be, baby girl?"

Stephanie smiled, knowing that Ms. Darla had a kind heart, she wasn't intimidated by her new boss. " It's Stephanie Rohn. It's very nice to meet you Ms. Darla." They shook hands and Ms. Darla continued to talk and motioned her hand for Stephanie to follow her. As they walked around the halls Ms. Darla turned left into a small room alined with lockers, fridge and a table with four chairs. Ms. Darla opened up locker number five and pulled out a shirt just like the one she was wearing.

"Here, baby girl, is your uniform. Just wear this shirt and khaki shorts with any solid color underneath," Stephanie grabbed the shirt and Ms. Darla tapped locker number five, " this is your locker and here is the key to unlock it, and this room here is the break room. Your lunch break is twelve to two and be here every morning by no later then seven. For today ,I'll give you a tour of the place and show you the ropes of what you'll be doing. Mainly feeding the animals and fish and helping me taking admissions. My other worker Andy will show you more in depth and teach you how to clean the tanks, but he has the day off today so I'll show you the ropes." Ms. Darla took a small breath after saying a mouthful and continued on. " So how about we begin that tour!"

As Ms. Darla blabbed on about each fish tank we walked along,Stephanie just admired the tanks, zoning her out. First, they passed the fresh water rooms. There were tanks of large catfish and other other freshwater native species from around the world. Walking past a school of red bellied piranhas large tanks from floor to ceiling were filled with a rainbow of fish. Parrot fish, starfish and some Stephanie didn't even know the names of. Then the two of them walked into the tube tank. Larger fish and a couple sting rays floated up above their heads. Then, a large moray eel poked out of a hole under a rock. After a couple of minutes in the tube we stood by the largest indoor tank. Groupers, sail fish and large sharks monitored the tank, smaller fish filled the empty spaces along with spectacular rock and coral formations. It was fantastic to watch. Then, Ms. Darla and Stephanie walked to the outside tanks and exhibits. The first large tanks were occupied by two large orcas and the tank a few yard away was only home to one dolphin. And across about thirty yards was the seal and penguin exhibits. There were three seals. To Stephanie it looked like a mother, father and the smallest one must be the pup. There were about five penguins waddling around in the penguin exhibit.

"The larger orca with the extra spot behind his dorsal fin is Blue and the smaller one is Alanhi, she's a sweetheart," Ms. Darla smiled " and the dolphin's name is Mila, her lil baby died just a few months ago... Well, now the largest seal is Ano, his mate is Naki and this little guy is Hani," she called the littlest guy over and began to pet his smooth skin. They moved on to the penguin exhibit. " So these are the penguins. I introduce you to Kato, Alana, Jasper, Sonney and Apollo. They're always interesting fellas to watch. That's about all you need to know! Since today is Wednesday the aquarium is closed so there will not be any people here today and since you're just starting I'll allow Andy to teach you how to do everything. Have a nice day baby girl! We start early tomorrow and remember to punch your card in and you're good to go, I've got some paper work to do."

Stephanie smiled and said thank you. As she was riding home a thousand thoughts filled her mind. " Will I get to run the dolphin or whale show? Who's Andy? I hope he's not too harsh..." Thoughts ran through her head but she she was still smiling all the way home.