January 3, 2010- An Aquarium Adventure
The aliens put me in a holodeck storyline with my Girl Scout
troop; we looked about 13 or 14 years old. We were on a trip only I wasn’t
entirely sure of which state we were in yet – either Florida or California. We
were on a boat heading towards an island with a big aquarium on it.
I saw dolphins and
harmless sharks swimming around in the ocean. It was a lovely day; temps in the
mid-70s and low humidity. I was listening to my troop mates talking. I was
feeling like an outsider as I had during my real Girl Scout days. But I didn’t
mind this here too much because I was excited about getting to see otters and
other animals.
Suddenly, things
started getting scary for the boat was taking on water; somehow it had gotten
damaged. We were semi- freaking out but when the crew informed us that we would
be able to make it to the island without any problem, we calmed down. It was
still 10 minutes away at that point.
Everyone got out
of the boat quickly though when we arrived there. I was a little bit slower because
I was feeling a little ill- maybe seasickness. I became nervous as well when I
couldn’t see any of my fellow Scouts or the 2 leaders- Mrs. M and Miss K, who
also was our 4th grade teacher.
Although it was
upsetting that none of them had waited for me, I decided to not let this spoil
things and went off on my own on this adventure. It was strange that I didn’t
spot any of them- how could they have gotten that far away from me in this
short period of time?
There were a lot of
people at this aquarium; many of them were tour groups and those on class
trips. I saw another Girl Scout troop also. Each group seemed to be wearing
matching jackets or shirts. Ours had on yellow jackets like the ones that we
had in reality. I was looking around for this at first and spotted girls
wearing these. As I got closer to them though, I noticed that it wasn’t my
troop and the jackets were just similar to ours.
I was actually
having so much fun looking at the animals, esp. the sea otters and seals. You
were able to interact with some of them so I petted a baby otter and a seal
pup. There were also sea lions, walruses, penguins, turtles, dolphin and more
at this wonderful place.
Most of the
exhibits were indoors. There were several floors in this building. Of course,
now such place exists on Earth near those 2 states or any other, at least not
that I know about. It’s possible that a similar aquarium could be in our
country somewhere.
I still was
slightly upset that my troop and its leaders didn’t even notice that I was
missing. Wouldn’t they have asked an employee to make an announcement telling
me to meet them in a certain area if they had?
Why should I even
care, I was having a pretty good time on my own. Besides, they weren’t even
real, just holograms or shape shifters- or both. I guess that a part of me was
feeling lonely and wanted to share this experience with others.
I went on the
submarine ride afterwards. I did feel a
bit claustrophobic during that. We saw fish and other marine life during this
15 minute trip. This reminded me of the ride in Disney World- 20,000 Leagues
Under the Sea; I think that’s its name.
I saw some nice
stuff in the gift shop and bought a few of the cute, small stuffed animals- an
otter, seal pup and dolphin. They were beanie baby types. The weird thing about
them was that on the tags were names of tennis players; a part of the proceeds
were going towards their charities. A pink seal had Safina’s name and
Davydenko’s was on another- I forget which kind though.
I can’t get away
from the tennis, even in an alien holodeck storyline such as this. I was
laughing on the inside about that.
I’ve always wanted
to go to an aquarium. There is one in Camden but no way would I ever drive
there. There is also a small one in Point Pleasant, I think. Even that seems
too far for me because of the driving anxiety.
I don’t know if this kind of trip could even be in my budget anyhow.
Maybe in the afterlife I will get to go to such a place.
I wonder if I ever
found my troop. Maybe they left without
me. I wish that I could’ve been in this program for longer as I do with others.
I was back in my room listening to a Bon Jovi CD on my stereo as I had been
before being transported into the holodeck.
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
Sea World 1976
Circus World 1976
part of my Girl Scout jacket
Turtleback Zoo 2012
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