Short Story
In the Dark Blue
This was my favorite time of the day - closing. All of the families with their too-wild kids, all the bored teenagers on school trips, all the old couples with their careful steps shuffled and funneled out of the main door until there was no one left in the Open Sea room but me.
Mike ClarkPublished 2 years ago in FictionWish Upon a Starfish
Aster: Are you looking for someone? Herman: What? No… I'm just on my lunch break. Aster: My name is Aster by the way, mind if I join you?
Dan OrmerodPublished 2 years ago in FictionThe Fishbowl Effect
It started with a text. Sabrina opened it, read it- and fled. Run. Sometimes, running feels like escaping- darting through a world of possibilities, all better than what you're leaving behind.
Savannah SvetaPublished 2 years ago in FictionLost Things
It all starts because there’s a certain Great White shark—small for its species and covered in thick, white scars—who has a disposition for mayhem. It bangs against the glass of the aquarium when visitors stop to ponder the aquarium life, or even as they pass. The shark seems to have an intuition about which guests have a more sensitive constitution, as it has a great track record of singling out which people will scream the loudest, which children will be so terrified that their parents will have a talk with the administrator about that “godawful beast.”
Noel MalloryPublished 2 years ago in FictionAnimal Therapy
By Sandy Lo Opening her eyes, Mattie saw the familiar bright blue-green water surrounding her. She heard one of the handlers describe the color as teal once. Words are fuzzy for Mattie, but she enjoys them. The sound of them, the different tones of the humans' voices when they say them. She can tell what kind of day they are having when she hears their greetings, even from the floor of her enclosure, she somehow knows.
All’s Fair in Love & WritingPublished 2 years ago in FictionFor the Jellyfish
It is the hottest summer in human history (as far as I’m concerned), and I am spending it in Toronto, the hottest city on planet Earth (in my personal opinion). My tiny fifth-floor apartment has no air-conditioning because May, my roommate, is "allergic" to air-conditioning. As if, May. I’m allergic to living on the surface of the Sun, but oh no, no special treatment for me.
Katherine BrucksPublished 2 years ago in FictionThe School Field Trip
Little One woke in a flash, their eyes snapping open with instant recall. Today was the day of the school field trip! They'd been waiting for so long to see these dangerous animals up close. There was no better way than through the safety glass at the aquarium.
Kim MitchellPublished 2 years ago in FictionParamnesia
Jellyfish under changing lights. Turtles slowly making their way to the top of the tank. Eels crawling through mazes and popping out holes.
Andrea LawrencePublished 2 years ago in Fiction‘Til Tomorrow
Death once told me that, in theory, the turritopsis dohrnii could live forever. “More commonly known as the immortal jellyfish,” he read out the information at the side of the tank, “They revert back to a juvenile stage known as a polyp. This is brought on by factors such as threats to their environment or old age, and allows them to repair damaged cells.”
Ocean blue
Marcy knew the aquarium like the back of her hand. her routine was the same every day after all. She would enter with her year pass, try to spot all the spotted garden-eels poking their heads out of the sand, Watch the epaulette sharks swimming in the tank on the left and listen to the presentation about all the dangerous animals in the oceans while sketching one of the animals. Sure, she knew the presentation off by heart by now, but she enjoyed the comforting familiarity of it all. Marcy would end her trip outside, Watching the penguin feeding while fiddling with her short ginger hair. she had a dark green coat on, with little badges on the sleeve, including one from The Aquarium and one from a charity for ocean animals. She changed the animal on her charity badge every month and was always eager to tell people about that month's fish. Novembers was actually the very same sharks she loved to watch in the aquarium, the Epaulette shark. It's an incredible creature who is able to walk back into the water if it gets stranded on a beach. Marcy loved them.
The Deep Water Aquarium
It was a late night at the Deep Water Aquarium. Paul was the overnight janitor, he would clean the floors, windows, bathrooms, etc. before the morning crowd of tourists would roll into the aquarium. He's worked in this position for 13 years and there has never been a problem while he was on the shift.
"The Aquarium" Challenge
Darkness. Cold. Muted tremors. Mechanical vibrations. I stood and listened, my eyes shut tight. Seeing anything beyond my own inflicted darkness had become absolutely out of the question. I knew my expectations well enough to know what they promised; even now. It was troublesome just being here, regardless of how...safe I happened to be.