The Aquarium

The Aquarium. A place to learn about the creatures of the sea. Where parents bring their children because of their love for them, the insane amount of money they have, or the constant nagging that their children love to provide. A place that often meets new faces every day. People come to find or see something new for the first time. Most importantly, the Aquarium is for entertainment.

At 10:00AM the gates open and the entertainment is waiting. Planned activities are prepared by the staff at different areas throughout the Aquarium each day. People go to watch shows and feedings. They do this because it excites them; they would most likely never see this any other way. They pay for the entertainment. After some walking and exploring, lunchtime comes around and the customers need to eat. If they're smart, they will bring self made lunches or snacks. Most will buy something at the cafe and spend five times the average price for a small box of fries.

After lunch, it's back to more walking. A typical day will allow most people to explore all of the park before closing time. The biggest attraction are the Orcas who have three shows a day. The dolphins are second who also perform three times. Some small feedings here and there around the park offer the remaining view time. The gift shop, artwork, and other creatures entertain the customers until closing time at 8:00PM.

At the end of the day, when everyone leaves and the Aquarium is closed to the public, the night shift begins. A few people come to clean up the park for the next day. Each person has a third of the park to clean. As long as they finish their job before morning, they may come and go as early as they like. The person assigned to the Orca stadium, along with the kiosks and other animals around it has been there for over ten years; a middle aged man who likes to smoke and sometimes drink while working.

A large portion of the night is spent picking up trash thrown on the ground. After the trash is picked up, he must scrape the platform where the show-crew stand above the Orca tank for any extra fish or bird droppings that might occur. The man typically will end his night doing this and will have already finished three cigarettes. Throughout the years he has had this job, he has seen and heard things that no one believes. One night he swore he saw someone begin swimming through the shark tank as if they wanted to be there; then brutally get torn apart. Other times he would see a creature in a certain enclosure that would not belong there. Everytime he would begin to get close, it would disappear and the other animals would go about their circular swimming rhythm.

To him, something is going on behind the scenes at this park. Most of the time he will drink it off, which is why he continues to work at the Aquarium. He will forget what he saw and earn the money he needs to survive; and buy more alcohol. A complete rhythm that many people get stuck with; work, eat, sleep. The truth is, something is going on that no one knows about, and he might not be as crazy as others think he is.

—

On the man’s last night of work he took the whole bottle with him instead of his typical flask. It was Saturday and tomorrow he would be watching the Canes crush Clemson. He wanted to finish the night rather quickly. As he entered the park he noticed the car of one of the other night shift workers. They usually do not get here this early. Maybe they have something exciting tomorrow as well.

He walked in and grabbed his cleaning gear. He began to make his way towards the stadium. As he was walking he began to see his usual suspects. He first had to pass through The Dome which contained tanks holding the smaller fish and legged sea creatures. The dim blue light in each tank mesmerized him everytime he would look at it; quite beautiful. When exiting The Dome he saw the section on the right where the other employee was working.

He looked near the small tortoise enclosure in between most of the other attractions. He noticed that none of them were walking around like normal, not even one. He continued walking. As he passed by the Hyacinth macaws he heard the words “dinner timeee…” spoken softly. He quickly jumped when it was said, dropping a few of his cleaning items. He looked around; no one was there. Did he really just hear that? He hasn't had too much to drink yet.

He knelt down and began to pick up his equipment. While he was on the ground he heard something in the distance and picked his head up. He stared down over his left shoulder to look for any sign of what made the noise. When nothing moved after a few seconds, he turned his head to the right and his eyes widened instantly. Towards the tortoise section now stood a cleaning cart. He stood up and stared towards the cart for an extended period of time, waiting for a sign of the other employee.

After standing still and feeling a little nervous he told himself that they could just be using the bathroom, or messing with the walruses again; although usually one would take the cleaning cart with them wherever they go. He finished gathering his equipment and placing it back in his own cart and started again towards the stadium. When he reached the stadium he saw that there was a large amount of trash around the area. He had a disgusting look on his face before he took another swig from the bottle and prepared himself for the work ahead.

—

Now standing on the performer's platform, staring down at the dark water of the large Orca tank, the man tilted the bottle upside down over his mouth but still nothing came out. This was the same outcome the last few times he tried. He leaned back and cocked his arm before throwing the bottle into the water. This was not the first time he has done this but it will be the last.

He stumbled back and almost lost his balance before deciding to sit down on the side of the platform. He took off his old boots, rolled up his pants, and put his legs in the cold liquid. The water slightly ruffled ahead of him. He leaned back and began to close his eyes. The ruffling continued towards him and stopped right before his legs. He felt the brush of cold water higher on his pants. He got up on his arms and looked out, it was completely dark and with his stumbly vision he couldn't notice the small fin a few feet in front of him.

He started to laugh as he remembered all the previous occasions of creepy things he saw throughout the park over the years. Then he remembered what he saw and heard earlier today and laughed even louder. With his age, the cigarettes, and alcohol, he self concluded that he was losing his mind. He started to lean back and his right foot felt slight pressure. He picked his head up quickly but after a second realized he must be losing feeling in his legs too.

As he tried to lay his head down one last time he felt the pressure again. This time a little harder but not going away. He convinced himself that it was the cold water and started to think about the game tomorrow. What would he do at halftime and what snacks…

Before he could finish his thought the pressure greatly increased and was pulled from the platform. The speed was too great and not a sound was emitted from his mouth before going under. After a few minutes, the bubbles and rippling water ceased.

On Sunday the Orca stadium, as well as the Walrus paddock will be investigated, and a large “Closed Today” sign will be placed outside the gates.

At the Aquarium…