Wednesday August 17th, 2016

The exercise:

Write something that takes place at: the aquarium.

Max, as we expected, just about lost his danged mind at the aquarium this morning. He never lacks for enthusiasm, but he was off the charts excited.

I've got lots of pictures on my phone, along with several videos. Will share some once I get them onto the laptop.

For now, know that his favorite things were the jellyfish, the shark, the turtles, the monkeys, and the sea otter. Oh, and the penguins and the little fish and the big fish and the really big fish and the gigantic fish.

So, you know, basically everything.

Catching the ferry to the island tomorrow morning. Looking forward to being back home for a few days.

Mine:

"Sir?"

Man, this place is incredible. I wonder how long it took them to collect all this stuff. Years, at least. Decades maybe?

"Excuse me, sir?"

And the colors! So many colors. I'd never have dreamed such things could be found in nature. Well, without humans dumping toxic chemicals on them first. Obviously.

"Hello, sir?"

I hardly know which way to turn, what to see next. They should have just made this one big hallway. Go up one side, come back down the other. That way nobody would miss any of this. What's with all these doors and different floors and this... what? Amorphous blob of a layout? What the heck's wrong with rectangles and squares and tr-

"Sir!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you speaking to me?"

"Sir! Your child has somehow found his way into the monkey exhibit!"

"He has?"

"We don't know how he did it - there aren't even any access points from this side of the glass! But he needs to get out of there before something terrible happens!"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. I've always said he's more monkey than boy anyway..."

2 comments:

Greg said...

So... was there anything Max didn't like at the aquarium? It sounds like he had great fun -- the last time I was at an aquarium they had a tunnel you could walk through with the shark-tank all around you. I liked it, but the people I was with seemed terrified by the sharks :-D
Apart from the fact I can't figure out why your aquarium has a monkey exhibit I really like the narrator's enthusiasm and his complaints. The idea of getting the colours by dumping toxic substances on the animals is... well, sadly all too true, but still hilarious, and his complaints about the layout -- well, I suspect they may be your personal ones ;-) Lovely writing, as usual, though.

The aquarium
The aquarium was deeply peaceful at night; the lights were muted for the benefit of the fish and, in fact, the biggest pool of light came from the cafeteria where two gentlemen in dapper suits were sat at a formica-topped table drinking cappuchinos. The sound system had been switched on and the odd echoing calls of whale-song provided a gentle background noise.
"Fifty minutes," said Bill. He sipped his cappuchino and wiped froth from his lips. "Did you put milk in this?"
"No flat-lines yet," said Ben. "It's a cappuchino, of course it's got milk in it!"
"That's good," said Bill. "If we lose another candidate we're going to have to take the last one regardless of their test results. I don't like milk, why did you put milk in my coffee?"
"Well this one's fairly easy," said Bill. "Remember when we had to do this for Georgette? She sabotaged the scuba-gear, gave us a blunt knife, and gave the octopus LSD before sending us into the tank. Since when do you not like milk? You had three latte's this morning."
"Yeah, I remember bits. Asphyxiation doesn't really help the memory. I best remember pushing her off the roof of the Niewerhoos in Amsterdam a year later. Do you put milk in my latte's as well then?"
"Yeah, she made quite a splash," said Bill with a small chuckle. "Seriously? You don't know what coffee has milk in and what doesn't?"
They both looked up as the quality of the light changed, but there was no-one obviously in sight. They exchanged glances and then stood up and moved towards the aquarium's tanks.
"Is there milk in a mocha? I like them, I think."
"Yes, and last time I made you a mocha you spat it out and said it reminded you of the taste of your ex-girfriend."
At the tanks they found the source of the shadow: a security guard was floating in the tank with a garrotte around his neck.
"Oh yes," said Ben. "No milk in my coffee anymore please. Why have they put this guy in here? Do they really expect the starfish and oysters to be able to clean up this evidence?"
"Fail both of them?"
"Fail whichever one comes back second."

Marc said...

Greg - didn't like? Yeah, leaving. Other than that though? I don't think so.

Your suspicion about the layout complaints is... not entirely inaccurate.

Highly enjoyed the dual conversations between Ben and Bill. I think you've developed a real knack for their dialogue.

And it is good to see that their search for a henchman might have an end in sight after all!