Dream

The Aquarium Dream

I was doing a volunteer program at a large aquarium with a few other girls, and we were focused on the shark tank for the day. My friend Brooke was there with me, but I didn't know anyone else. We were learning to pilot a small, two person submersible into the tank to feeding or cleaning purposes. Brooke and I were picked to go first, with her piloting. We made it to the first ledge but miscalculated the landing of the next one and sank to the very bottom of the tank. The sharks were immediately interested in us, circling the submersible. We had to abandon the submersible because it was damaged in the decent and couldn't bring us to the surface. We stayed low and swam to the nearest hatch. (The tank wasn't on display to the public yet.)

There was one shark who remained persistent on our trail while the others lost interest. A medium size, thin shark, maybe 6-7 feet long at most. Judging by how thin it was and the many scars on its skin, I could tell the other larger sharks in the tank bullied and intimidated him away from most of the food given. He didn't necessarily try to attack, just brushed against us every once in a while, and then following close behind or above us. Brooke made it to the hatch first, then me close behind. I remembered I had some meat in a small compartment on my belt attached to my wetsuit. So I gave him some and he then swam near us until we both got out and closed the hatch behind us.

After that, I always noticed the same shark swimming near the viewing windows when Brooke or I walked past, as if he remembered who we were. I always tried to be there for feeding time so I could make sure he got a decent amount of food. He slowly started growing and getting stronger, tougher, meaner towards the other sharks. But he always stayed calm and relaxed near people. Of course I knew this wasn't typical shark behavior, so I wondered what this poor shark had gone through before he was brought here.

Sometimes I would be in charge of answering calls involving the shark tank after it was open for public viewing. There was this one person who always sounded so angry, and tried to tell me about phony issues with the tank or information about the shark types in the tank. They had always had a problem with the shark exhibit, so they wanted it shut down and the sharks moved or released. In one particular call, they said the aquarium would pay for housing the sharks in such a small area. (The tank was very large with plenty of room for the six sharks.)

One day I came in to the back room of exhibit where the food, cleaning supplies for the tank, and the phone were kept. All the lights were off and wouldn't turn on. Until a sort of spotlight turned on to show a large sign in the water with a number. 9 3/4. I stared at it until I heard the explosion inside the tank. I instantly grabbed my bag and ran, making a B line to the kid play area where my brother and sister were playing. I ran in, warned the person in charge, and grabbed my brother and sister's hands. I started running again towards the stairs and then the exit on the main floor. Another explosion was heard from upstairs and I knew it had hit the glass of the exhibit. I picked up my sister because she was the smallest and kept running with my brother until we were outside. I found my mom and dad waiting in the grassy area outside and all three of us hugged them tight. Another explosion, we looked up at the large windows of the second floor and saw water start to gather against it. My dad picked up my brother and we all started running towards the car. We saw and heard a lot of other people in complete panic running in the same direction as us. Another crash, but this time it was the sound of glass breaking and more people screaming louder. I looked back and saw that the upstairs windows had broken, the water flooding out like river rapids. I saw a few large shadows in the water, signaling the sharks had been in the water during the explosions and were now in the flood.

We made it to the car and all got inside in record time. Mom started the car and we all watched the flood of water coming towards us. I noticed one very scarred dorsal fin and knew bullied shark got out. I yelled at mom to drive and she took off out of the parking lot. I made sure both of my siblings were ok and then sat back in my seat, exhausted and terrified. Terrified for any people trapped inside, for the fate of the sharks who escaped with the flood, and for the future of the aquarium.

Ok so that was another weird dream I had while on vacation. I wrote this at 6:39 in the morning while everyone else was asleep. Anyway, comment what y'all think, good or bad with anything I could fix or add. Until next time, adios.