Chapter 55
Then they moved to the other tank, AJ gently held her arm, as she pointed and talked a mile a minute. "Look, AJ! That's a shark just like I caught when we went fishing. Well, not exactly like it, because mine was bigger. But it is a shark. It doesn't say 'Hammerhead', so mine must be more dangerous than this one or they wouldn't have this boy in the tank. They would have had to pull this one on a boat to get him here, right? But you heard them say they couldn't even pull mine on the boat. Remember? They said it could bite someone's leg off, so mine was more dangerous than this puppy. Nice set of teeth though. Quick, AJ, don't just stand there staring-take a picture!" grinned Sarah, finally winding down.
AJ took her picture with the shark on its next round. He didn't have the heart to tell her how the Great White made hers look like a tadpole. Then she noticed little fish stuck to the shark. "AJ, why is the shark not eating those fish?" frowned Sarah.
"Those are suckerfish, and they clean up after the shark and it just leaves them alone. Guess he's a messy fish," grinned AJ.
"Okay, can we get a snow cone, now? It's really hot," begged Sarah.
"All right. I saw a vendor just as we came in," replied AJ taking her hand they each got a snow cone. While AJ was paying for them, there was an announcement over the speaker that the sea lion show was about to start. Going over and taking a set on the bleachers, they waited.
The trainer came out, and as he called the names of the three stars, they appeared. "Ladies and gentlemen, meet Ms. Kelly, she's our baby of the show. Kelly's mother, is Dora."
"Did he say Dora, Sarah?" whispered AJ.
"Dora, the sea lion, AJ, not Dora, the cat. Relax," grinned Saran.
"And our old man, Sammie," announced the trainer. The trainer went through the show of having the three sea lions catch balls and then pitch balls into basketball hoops. They also jumped up to pick a fish from the mouth of the trainer. When they achieved a goal they were rewarded with another fish. Each time the baby Kelly achieved a goal, she would go to a bike horn and blow, it to ask for her fish. Getting one every now and then, without completing a task, she started running to the horn to blow whenever the trainer's back was turned.
AJ and Sarah laughed at the antics of the little sea lion. The trainer, acting like he finally caught on, made Kelly go back to her block and sit down. Pretending embarrassment, she covered her face with her flipper, winning her a prized fish. Much to AJ and Sarah's disappointment, the sea lion show ended. The announcer advised that Fred and Wilma would be fed in ten minutes.
"AJ, I want a hot dog. I'm starving," Sarah told him as he helped her off the last bleacher.
"Well, I was starting to wonder when feeding time for Sarah would begin," laughed AJ. "Alright! Hot dog with everything coming up, my lady." He got Mac her hot dog and a soda and a soda for himself.
"Did you get some good pictures of the sea lion show?" asked Sarah, swallowing the last bite of her hot dog and taking a drink of soda.
"Yes, and I have plenty of film left for Fred and Wilma. Sarah, didn't you eat that hot dog too fast?" he asked, worried, watching as she took a big drink of soda.
"Nope, I was starving. What are we having for lunch? It's already 1300 so it'll be late when we get out," said Sarah.
"But you just ate that…never mind, we will find something, I'm sure," he sighed, wondering when her appetite would stop surprising him.
The guide at the alligator show explained how long their life span was, and then told what they would eat, if living in the wild. He also told them how Fred and Wilma were captured and that their baby was Pebbles. After the informational part of the show, some young boys appeared with buckets, filled with raw bloody chunks of meat. The guide would throw in huge pieces, at the open-mouthed gators, and they would chew with their razor sharp teeth and swallow. It didn't take long to feed them because they seemed starved. AJ turned to make a comment about this to Sarah and saw she was pale and trembling. "What's wrong, Sarah?" he asked, concern in his voice.
To be continued….