Seeing Real Life Fantasy

As a child one of my favorite animals was always the seahorse. Ever since I laid eyes on this creature through books and media such as cartoons, they've always been in a special place to my heart. Yes, though they're not on the top of the food chain, unlike the orca, seahorses have always been oddly unique if not mesmerizing.

So, if You will, I'd like to relay a story about when I first got to these spectacular, if not almost mystical, denizens of the deep.

At the school library I would often pick up books that would be of key interest to me. Dinosaurs and paleontological encyclopedias, fast cars, dragons, cryptozoology, UFOs, and of course nature. However, there was no animal alive at the time that held my fascination like the seahorse. I read all about how they can camouflage to their environment, have a really strong exoskeleton, the size of the territories between males and females (from what I recall males territory is about the size of a desk, while a females is the size of a classroom), their method of reproduction (yes ladies, we get the jokes about male pregnancies, but these super troopers carry hundreds at a time in their pouch), hunting methods, and even how they're used for traditional medicine (that made me sad back then and still makes me sad now).

When I read about the stories of how Poseidon was trying to make a beautiful creature to impress Demeter. In doing so a few mistakes- I mean "fantastical blessings" were made along the way (the explanation for animals such as giraffes, zebras, and even camels). When Poseidon was so impressed with his own creation, he decided to try to make several steeds for his own beloved chariots.

So, as a child, when I was told that there would be a field trip to an aquarium the first question I asked my teacher was, "Will there be seahorses?"

To my childlike wonder she responded with a resounding "Yes." As a child my heart leapt for joy in that moment. Sure, I may not be seeing a creature as large as an American stallion that traverses the Wild West, capable of pulling a seashell chariot, but I'd get to see an animal that's inspired historical legends since before man could even form words into text. As torturous as it was I counted the days down till I got to see the water steeds, just as before I'd count down the days to watching Saturday cartoons.

Now here's the thing, as a child I may have been an adept learner, even if I never liked homework, but when it came to showing my parents things as soon as I left school property, anything that went straight into my backpack was never meant to be seen again.

For all of You parents out there, I'm pretty sure that You've been through these situations before. You have a child that's as bright as the sun is blinding and as cute as a puppy and kitten trying to snuggle into the same slipper, but boy howdy do they seem to forget about important dates until the night before, the morning of, the hour ahead, or even as You drop them off. A common run-of-the-mill joke is Your child approaching Your bedroom at 21:00 telling You that they need construction paper, glue, glitter, and stickers for a diorama project due tomorrow.

I was one of those kinds of kids.

So, it was the day of heading to the aquarium and I never even knew how our class would be getting there. For some odd reason, in my mind, I always imagined a truck with a trailer full of saltwater carrying sea animals in it. So, when the teacher asked for my slip, I went to hand it to her, but she was as shocked as I was.

"You mean to tell me that you had it in your backpack the entire time, Thavien?" I sort of just stared at her wide-eyed and shrugged my shoulders. "We need your parent's signatures in order for you to come along with us. The bus won't be here for a while, let's see if we can give them a call. Until then, sit down at your desk and think about what you've done to get yourself in this predicament."

While I sat there with a pink slip of paper on my desk, I heard about how some kids forged their parents' signatures. However, I was in kindergarten mind you, and the only name I knew my parents by was "mom" and "dad." Also, that when adults signed for things they did so in a squiggly pattern way that was indecipherable.

So, with a blank sheet of paper I tried practicing writing "mom" and "dad" in a squiggly language with my left hand (since my teacher would've recognized my handwriting). I've seen my parents write in cursive countless times. However, I never knew what they were writing. Sure, I watched them balance checkbooks and sign for checks at the bank before, but I never understood why. As long as I got a free lollipop at the end of the bank visit, I pretty much didn't care. My main mission was to be quiet to be rewarded. The less trouble I caused the less time I spent in timeout.

Then, walking in through the door, were my saviors (whose signatures I was trying to but could never forge, mind You). Dad walked in dressed in his usual garb prepared for work. His company's logo on his jacket, wearing a plaid button up with a baseball cap and denim jeans. Mom walked in looking like a paramilitary drill instructor complete with collared devices and shoulder insignia of her job's navy blue uniform. All the kids sort of stood in shock and awe of her. My mom is a beautiful woman, but I also think that most of the students in my class never saw a black woman like her in a uniform looking absolutely stunning.

Less I digress.

Mom and Dad walked in and talked with the teacher. Even though I didn't know that they needed to sign the paper, they knew that we had a field trip. So, they were as perplexed as the teacher.

Knowing the kind of kid I was my mom asked, "Was the paper all crumpled up?"

The teacher proceeded to nod her head with a 'yes.'

"Thavy, why didn't you bring this to me?"

I told her, "I didn't know what it meant. I can't read it all yet."

She facepalmed with a slight smile. "Well, that's normally like him. He probably also forgot since it wasn't homework."

"That too." Dad smiled.

So, my parents signed the slip for me, and eventually we boarded the bus. That was the first of my many lessons of not hiding things from my parents. Even if I didn't know what they were for.

It was also one of the first times I took a major class fieldtrip. So, it was a big milestone for me. I have to admit, the bus drive there and back was just as fun as being at the aquarium. When You're a young tike and You can get a semi-truck driver next to You to honk their horn, everybody whoops and cheers. That's one heckuva boost to skyrocket Your confidence.

When we got to the aquarium, my parents were there. They were helping to chaperone along with several others. So, everybody was going to split up into small groups. Moving with the crowd, naturally I was excited. I was getting ever closer to seeing every denizen of the deep. Ones that I wanted to see and ones that would fascinate me that I didn't even know about.

Walking underneath the tunnel of fish was absolutely mesmerizing. If my head wasn't glued to my body it would've unscrewed itself from my neck, rolling away. Seeing schools of fish is one thing, but having sharks swim over You is another (later in my adult life I would have a chance to swim with a few of them too).

There we were, one school of kids at an aquarium in winter with other school of kids. Some were in regular clothes, some were in uniforms, but everywhere You looked there would be children running and milling about, and everywhere You didn't look You'd be tripping over them.

The lead chaperone of our group asked what we wanted to see, and I proudly yelled "SEAHORSES!" Some kids wanted to see more sharks and the girls really wanted to see the jellyfish. So, the teacher led us over to the tanks in one satisfying order.

The jellyfish were in the direction of the seahorses and seadragons, and the sharks were just a viewing distance away in the community tank from the seadragons.

Now, as a kid, I remember reading that these animals camouflaged. However, I could pick them out of their pages in the books. Their tanks were another deal altogether. The seadragons' tank was a weird cylindrical thing. "Weird captivity for a dragon," I thought. It'd edges were so smooth and curved that I didn't see the dragon upon first glance, but it was floating right in front of me. I only noticed once its eyes moved. Then I saw it move its head and a small white particle in the water had vanished (R.I.P. Mr. Brine Shrimp).

Then, I got to see the main attraction for me. The water steeds.

There were whole groups of them! Ranging from colors of red to yellow, black to blue, green and even purple. Some gripped onto seaweed, some vibrated their fins. Others held onto one another's tails. No, they didn't make any horse whinnying sounds like they do in the animated 1940 "Pinocchio" film, but it was more than enough to see these creatures alive and well. Especially since as a child I read about how several of their species were endangered in their natural habitats.

However, seahorses weren't the only things here on our groups' checklist. Moving on we saw the community tank that held stingrays, schools of fish, and even some horseshoe crabs. Though children may not believe it first, their tails are not giant stingers.

Then we moved on from the oceanic environments (from the reefs to the coastal and open oceans) to jungle environments. There I got to see arapaima, piranhas, and the one thing that took my breath away (though it could literally do that if it ever got the chance to) was the green anaconda. When I saw my mom in the jungle area I asked her if she was okay, since I knew that she had a slight fear of snakes. She told me, "As long as it's behind the glass and doesn't pull a Harry Potter I'll be alright." The second movie hadn't come out yet, but the first movie had.

When we went to the Europe area, I finally got to see the monstrous Wels catfish. When I got there I asked my dad "Would you ever fly to Europe to fish for these?"

To which he responded, "Nah, as nice as that sounds, catfish back here are easier to catch, fillet, and eat. We'd need too much milk batter just for those fillets. Plus, I'd be too tired trying to reel that thing in." Note to self, even at that young age of my life I'd been pulled into a lake by a large fish on the end of my line. Swimming is nice. Swimming with fish is pretty cool. Swimming with fish that can drag you around by a fishing line... well, a new fishing pole only cost like $10.00. So, I'd rather not be swimming with the fishes so I can avoid sleeping with them.

Even after all of those exhibits we weren't done yet. Then we went and saw a show were dolphins did flips and tricks. As a child it's wondrous entertainment. As an adult, You feel terrible. It's one of those things that You wish to see, but hate to see it once You know what's truly going on. Still, those dolphins know how to moonwalk better than I do till this very day. Talk about smooth criminals.

After the dolphin show, we got to watch sea lions put on a thrilling display. Once the shows were done, we went down a flight of stairs to see beluga whales, the canaries of the seas. I knew that whales were bigger than dolphins, but I never thought that they could get them inside of a tank. Especially with how many were in there. I have to say it's very weird looking at whales in an enclosure, then looking outside a window at a large lake. Sure, it doesn't have any salt, but as a child I had to wonder, "Why don't they allow them to swim out there and return in here as needed? Wouldn't they be happier with the extra space?" Sadly, just as sad as it was to see whales in a tank, that thought left my head once I got to see polar bears and penguins. What? I was a kid. What part of having a short attention span don't You get?

Either way, it was fun and cute seeing the penguins waddle about. I was wondering why so many different species were put in the same enclosure. Watching them swim around in the water and chase down fish was amazing. Sure, I've seen ducks swim before, but penguins are an absolute missile when swimming. I find it hard to imagine that anything could catch up to them swimming at top speed. I felt like I was watching miniature 007s going on top-secret missions. Who needs an Aston Martin when You're faster than one? Well, maybe not so much on land, but those little guys were like rockets zooming around everywhere. I thought I was a fast swimmer, but penguins are an entirely different beast all on their own.

After lunch and getting to see a few things one last time we headed to the gift shop. Not having much cash on me at the moment as a child, my selection was rather limited. Yet, there was one thing I saw that I set my eyes on more than anything. That was a small page of stickers containing purple and orange shiny seahorses and clamshells. I thought about how I couldn't wait to put them in a few of my favorite books and on my bedroom wall. I had a whole portion of my wall covered in stickers. Even the parts of the pages in which the stickers used to lie in were peeled out and stuck to the wall. What can I say? As a kid, getting to see what I decorated and made for myself was always a fun thing for me to do. Besides, in an aquarium where everything's overpriced, it was probably one of the most reasonable things to get besides buying nothing.

When we got back onto the bus, we all took a picture in front of the building before leaving. Then, it was back to school we go. Sadly for us the school day wouldn't have ended just yet on our return. However, it was a fun ride on the way back. On the way back, I looked at the lake, the ponds, and also the rivers. Off I dreamt about seahorses and marine life swimming below the bridges. *Sighs* If only that were the case.

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Thavien Yliaster