My New Job

On our anniversary, my husband and I went to London on a ‘date.’ We had lunch in a restaurant overlooking the River Thames and then went on to the London Aquarium. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and there was just a slight breeze. Too nice to be inside but I love the Ocean so we stuck to our original plan and went in. Luckily, the kids were at school so we could leisurely walk around an almost empty Aquarium. It had changed since our last visit and there were three new attractions --- the Seahorses, the Rays and the Shark walkthrough. We followed the one way system and walked into the Seahorse section. It was beautiful! Different colours, sizes and species of Seahorses and the research was so interesting to read. Next was the Rays section, their beautiful faces shining through the clean glass. Then we moved onto the Shark walkthrough, which was pretty amazing! Hammerhead sharks and White-tip sharks swam all around us as we just stood and watched. I hadn’t realized just how much I love the Ocean with its endless variety of sea-creatures. Looking around, I noticed this one shark (was it a White-tip shark?) who was just there, looking at me. We looked into each other's eyes and I heard the shark say: “Enjoy your dream tonight.” At first I thought my husband had spoken to me but then I heard the same thing from two other different sharks. Now we had drunk some wine with lunch so I thought that I must have had three glasses instead of the usual two. Sharks don’t talk or so I thought.

When we came out of the Aquarium, it was still light, so we had a look around the National History Museum and then went home. What a lovely day we had had. “Look what I bought you as an anniversary present” and my husband pulled out of his backpack a plush toy of a Hammerhead shark. “I saw you looking at the sharks and thought you would like a memento of our visit” he said. I kissed my husband and said what a lovely gift and placed the shark on my bedside table, with it looking out into ‘the Ocean of the room.’ After watching football (I had to let my husband watch England play), we went to bed and I soon fell into a deep sleep.

“The dolphins were incredibly excited, dancing in and out of the Oceans, singing to each other as they swam: “Here they come! Here they come!” The night air was electric with excitement and even the Humpback whales were singing and dancing, crashing against the waters. Jellyfish swam nearer to the surface, changing into every colour of the rainbow, as blue Tuna fish dodged the dolphins, who were too distracted to eat. Even the Hammerhead sharks gathered in a huge group, talking excitedly to each other. It seemed that the whole of the Pacific Ocean was alive with excitement, from the marine life to the coral reefs, who were swaying and opening up. Even two Blue whales swam into the excited throng, making their massive presence known, they were not going to miss out!

Suddenly, there was a great surge in the Ocean, the waves swirling as these new sea-creatures swam at great speed to meet the marine life. Like the dolphins, they danced in and out of the waves, singing as they went, communicating with each sea animal they met, even with the coral reefs. They danced around the jellyfish, and bowed to the Blue whales, even diving in and out with the blue Tuna fish. Even the Hammerhead sharks, who are usually too wary to go near anything, swam right up to these new sea-creatures saying: “Welcome to the Oceans of the Earth.” Yes, the excitement was electrifying in the middle of this special night!

Then I recognized three White-tipped sharks. I was a mermaid, swimming with the ‘visitors’ (I guess I must have been one of the visitors) with sea-shells for the top half of me and a pink tail and I had very long, glittering, pink hair. I seemed to ‘wake up’ in my dream and the three sharks all said in unison: “Hello again, did you enjoy the Aquarium?” I answered them and we swam with the other sea-creatures and I too was very excited.

Swimming down and deep, we came to this beautiful, crystal, underwater castle and the dolphins showed us visitors around and said that it was our new home, as long as we were on Earth. Settling in, the Tuna fish brought us food and we all, visitors and marine life, had a lovely feast. The two Blue whales came to us and led us to “The Sea Goddess”, who looks after the Oceans. I looked into her eyes and --- saw myself --- she was me!”

I woke up with a start, the alarm was going off and my husband was already up. Remembering my dream, I went to stroke my new cuddly Hammerhead shark but stopped in mid-air --- the toy had turned and was now facing the bed, looking straight at me. After showering and dressing, I went down to breakfast and asked my husband why he had moved my toy shark. “I haven’t touched it!” he said “why, where have you put it?” I chose not to explain, he might think I had been drinking in my sleep.

“The post is early today, I think you’ve got an answer to your new job you went for” my husband said. Sure enough, it was the answer to the interview I went to last Wednesday. “I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” I shouted, jumping up excited and nearly knocking over the coffee pot. My husband was thrilled for me. It meant less money but I’d be doing something I’d really enjoy and love --- teaching Oceanic Biology at the local university. After my husband went to work, I ran into the bedroom to cuddle my new Hammerhead shark toy. It ‘jumped’ into my arms and seemed to be alive. Looking into the wardrobe mirror, I saw one of the White-tipped sharks from the aquarium: “Well done, we look forward to seeing you at the Aquarium again --- and in your dreams.”