Lyle’s Aquatic Adventure

It was a hot summer week in early August. I had been through extreme highs and lows, every day and night. I felt so hungry and stress made my stomach go into a rage through my belly. I tried to get through exams during summer school. Then, I did many shifts for my part-time job at the recording studio. I felt exhausted! Suddenly, I got a call from Liam, my best friend. I can't believe this is happening. He’s invited me for a trip to the aquarium. I asked him if I could bring Mio, my lover, and some of her sisters to come. I'm sure Liam had already asked his crush, Ayame. She’s one of Mio’s sisters, of course.

I am super excited!

But, it sounds odd.

It’s been a while since I went to the aquarium before my father died. It was quite longer than that. I don't remember when was the last time I went. I remember going to one of the aquariums around the west coast. It was one of the most interesting places my family and I ever went to.

I remember the first time I explored my first aquarium trip; it was when I was about 6 months old. Before the trip, I have always been so curious about how the water felt, especially in the bathtub, ever since I was an infant.

Strange, isn't it?

I remember that I could also see both my hands and feet clearly through the water while I was playing with some bath toys. Some of the bath toys were boats, seals, rubber ducks, sharks, and fish. I had been asking myself, ‘what is water?’ ‘What are these things coming from?’

That night, I was about to fall asleep. Then, I was dreaming. I was in the deep sea filled with colorful fishes that looked like a rainbow under the sea. The rays are way above and flying like big birds. I see Mio as a mermaid swimming with a dolphin. She came towards me and then… I woke up! I thought that I wasn't gonna wake up. I was so disappointed. So, I went back to sleep.

The next day, we headed to the aquarium. It took about 15 minutes to drive there. By the time we arrived, it brings me back to my childhood. I always loved to explore. I always love to go on adventures. I always love to travel. I also love to see fish, amphibians, sea reptiles, sea mammals, invertebrates, and water plants. I see huge sea creatures. I always like to look at the small things. I always like to see something very colorful.

I saw Mio and the others were enjoying it. Then, I see her smiling. She was excited! Mio has been thinking that water has always been one of the most interesting things on our planet. There’s more! She thought, inside the water, it can be even more awesome with unique aquatic creatures and mysterious plants.

Long ago, she enjoyed it when we watched some interesting, but incredible documentaries about nature and the sea. The things we watched were from Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and the National Geographic channel. She loves the ‘Blue Planet’.

We loved to look at many plants and animals, whether they were on land, or whether they were inside the water. I showed Mio that the water is either from the river, the lake, or even from the sea. The same thing that my parents taught me about it was the ones when I had some trips with them or I was on a field trip from school.

While we were at the aquarium, I couldn't be happier. Looking at these creatures and plants is one of the most amazing things to explore. I remember when Mio was always so curious about what they are and saw things that she had never seen before. We hold our hands together. All of us went through the smallest ones, including the clownfish, sea horses, and lionfish. Next, we went to the large ones including octopuses, rays, sharks, jellyfish, and sea turtles. Things are magical like from ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘Ponyo’ I used to watch. After that, we went off to see the land critters. This aquarium has penguins, seals, and otters. The otters were the cutest little ones we have ever seen.’Oh my goodness! They're so cute!’ said Mio.

We only walk through the entire aquarium for at least two hours. The walking always made me hungry. We stopped by the food court and ate customized pita wraps for lunch and organic fruit smoothies for dessert. We had fun! It was quite a trip. I'm glad Mio and others loved it. I bet it's worth it. I hope we can do it again next time. I have never been so happy before. I deserve to have a break from these stressful things. I am glad I did.