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Ashley's Aquarium

“They swapped the zoo animals for cute fish!”

By Jerome Smith-PulaPublished about a year ago 9 min read
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Ashley's Aquarium
Photo by Tim B Motivv on Unsplash

A new bar had just opened up in town. Everyone was talking about it. It was in an old bar, that everyone used to go too, back in the day. It had a smoko area in the front, with railings and a cage-like frontier for the upper half, often labelled as, "the Zoo," because they thought most of the smokers acted like zoo animals.

Well, for weeks, people saw the comings and goings of sheets of glass going into the place, followed by a water tanker, pumping a shit ton of water into the shop front. We were all curious, what was going into the ol' zoo club?

There had been speculations for weeks, with teasers here and there on social media, and people dropping what they thought might be going into the vacant place. A bit like Chinese Whispers, if you like. They must had been cutting it finely with their schedule because tonight was opening night, according to social media, and I had seen a glass-fitting van parked outside the premises on Main Street, this morning. Also, a water tanker left on the vehicle crossing on the adjacent lane next to the building, blocked the accessway. Moments later, the name of the pub was uncovered.

Ashley’s Aquarium.

So, they have swapped zoo animals for fishies. Interesting.

As I said earlier, it was opening night tonight, so I am interested in checking the shindig out. I’m picking from the breadcrumbs that have been dropped recently with the glass-fitting van and water tanker, Ashley’s Aquarium, is just that. The bar is fitted out with an aquarium and probably anything aquatic-related. Sounds dangerous. And would it even pass compliance? I ask such a question because what if worst case scenario, something happens, like an earthquake or a shootout, and the glass is affected, and water gushes out and creates mayhem for the patrons. I can just see the headline now: Ashley soaks her guests with her fishy friends.

Of course, I’m just being an overthinker and thinking of worse case scenarios that could sabotage my entertainment.

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The thing about going to town here, is you have to really start drinking before 6pm, otherwise you won't be tanked enough to enjoy the town life. I suppose that sabotages the pub’s profits if people liquor up before hitting town but when drink prices are horrendously high, have to find savvy ways to save money. Anyway, bought me a box and ended up being at home. Switched some music on and chilling in the shed with mum, having a few drinks, and yarning. I’m very curious how Ashley’s Aquarium will turn out. Not many pubs stay alive in town, so we’ve seen copious amounts of bars get erected then rejected. The bars are like manufactured pop groups; create a buzz, carry a following for a few years, and then something might go down and viola, they end up shutting up shop and we never hear from them again. Sometimes they get too big, people flock to the premises like moths to the flame, reach alarming capacities, fights begin, and demise of the pub begins.

I’m curious about the music they will play there. Will it be a cozy pub with cocktails and people sitting around in their little booths, socialising like that, with elevator music in the background or a band playing Jazz-like music, or will it be an actual night club that plays the best music from a wide range of genres? Music is real deal breaker with me. It has to be a good beat but not like generic mainstream music that I could probably download on YouTube and have my own soirée at home. Though, sometimes generic music (and by generic, I mean, those constant overplayed music like one hit wonders and the songs that just get generally thrashed), gets the crowd going and buzz uplifting. So, you can see the argument I have with myself, being able o debate both sides. The intellectual conversations I have with myself while I ponder over an RTD.

My phone starts vibrating, and I see an overload of messages from people I haven’t seen in a while. The gist of every message I just received was: Are you going to the opening of Ashley’s Aquarium? It’s almost like all those people are in one circle, all simultaneously sending a message to me, asking the same question. As we all know, the answer is yes. Might be a little reunion at this grand opening.

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At that stage now where I am at the nice place of being tiddly. Any more drinks and I will probably tip the evenly balanced of being tiddly, to legless, and that would just ruin my night. I am dead adamant that I will end up at Ashley’s tonight and nothing is going to stop me. That sounded a little prude. I haven’t even met Ashley and I am thinking way too ahead of things. But how do we know if Ashley is a female or male?

The bar opened slightly earlier tonight for the grand opening – I’m assuming there would be deals and good vibes happening. The post on their social media states that the resident DJ would be on the decks from ten o’clock which totally answers a few of my questions; no, the bar isn’t one of those shanty dodgy bars from the ‘burbs where they have a Jazzy band playing while patrons sip cocktails and talk about their working week and yes, the DJ will play a wide range of fist-pumping jams for us to forget about life for a few hours.

I’m especially intrigued about the aquarium part. If it is an actual aquarium, that would be a first for here. The closest aquarium-like establishment is a couple of hours east, and it’s alright. I wonder if the bar acts as a restaurant too for all-ages so children can see the wonderful fishies on offer? So many questions but very few answers. So far.

It’s almost eight-thirty and I am getting a bit restless. I have hit a brick wall. Do I go now and check the bar out and pay for a few rounds to stay topped up or do I just try to stay calm, stay at home for a wee longer and drink my remainder of my box, to stay topped up? Another debate I’m having with my inner self.

A few more drinks and I’m well and truly on my way. I told my mum that I’m heading to town earlier because I’m curious (and impatient) to find out what Ashley’s Aquarium has on offer. I checked their social media and from the pictures uploaded, I can’t see much of an aquarium but heaps of people milling around on a wooden dance floor, DJ booth at center-stage on a raised area and stages in each corner, next to the DJ booth. Stereotypical bar, but I like it.

I checked my finances and notice I have a little extra for a few drinks in town. My treat to myself. I booked a taxi and I sneak a further drink, “one for the road.” But not really, as you can’t drink in taxis. Well, some do, but I don’t.

---

Upon arrival, I look at the cute neon sign and see the logo, is a giant Dory fish in a blue square box. I’m assuming that blue square box represents an aquarium. Very simple and cute. There’s a line on the lane adjacent the bar, where I had seen a water tanker earlier on in the day, block the accessway. The front of the bar which has remained dead for months, was alive with patrons in the smoker’s area. The railing and cage had been renovated so it did still look like a lion’s cage but a little fresher. I wonder what they will call this now. I walked into the front bar and noticed that it hadn’t really changed since the last establishment. The bar was still in the same spot, seating area in the middle of the room, smoko area to the right as you walk in. On the walls were Dory fishies and information on fish. I presume this might be the eatery part of the business, for all ages. It wasn’t appealing to me, so I moved on through to the next part of the bar. Music was already pumping, people milling around holding drinks, looking awkward as they talked and socialised. Toward the front, there was a colourful dance floor but as I moved closer, it wasn’t the worn-out seventies dance floor that has done the rounds in most of the bars here. It turned out to be floor with blue neon lights similar to the signage out on the front and fishies were swimming around underneath. So, while you’re intoxicated and dancing to jams, you’re dancing on an aquarium. That’s cute. I can’t see what kind of fish are in there, but the concept is cute and refreshing for this kind of establishment. This part of the club used to be a pool table room, many moons ago. Never would have imagined this would be turned into an aquarium-like bar.

“They swapped the zoo animals for cute fish!” I heard a man scream, from the opposite side to me.

I wonder what he means by that. I moved away from the colourful dance floor and head out the door that takes us into the smoko area and entrance for the bar that used to pack out every week a few years ago. The line was long enough to realise that I’m glad I used my initiative and went through the front bar. The same layout is exactly the same as previous bar owners who have had this spot. One day, the people lining up on the accessway will realise that the front connects to the back. This smoko area that connects the fishy dancefloor to the back joint, was already packing out with smokers and vapers. The music was very different from previous bars. I only recognised the song because I loved it back in the day when it came out, many years ago. Take me home by Midnight Red – upbeat and pop-like. I would have imagined the DJ playing this at two forty-five, fifteen minutes prior to closing. It would be very fitting.

So far, so good. I could see myself coming back. Well, it is the only night club here so course, I will be coming back. I walked through the main doors to the back part of establishment, and I have to say, I was not expecting to see what I saw. Nothing bad. Just wasn’t expected to see, what I think are, real-life Ariel from the Little Mermaid, dancing in fishbowls, embedded into the wall next to the corner stages I saw in the pictures on social media. Pretty much, anyone can go on those corner stages and dance with the Little Mermaid.

So that’s what the man was screaming about regarding the fish comment. I had a feeling that the "zoo animal" term would soon be retired.

Is Ariel even considered a fish? That’s another debate. As for Ashley, I’m still yet to find out who Ashley is.

AdventureHumorShort StoryYoung AdultSatire
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About the Creator

Jerome Smith-Pula

Been fascinated with writing since I was 11 years old. I'm interested in crime to feel-good articles. Mostly crime.

instagram: jsp_the_curator

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