FIFTY
On and on their tour guide drones as he leads them through the aquarium, but mostly she's interested in the actual fishes than whatever he's saying; the plaque cards give much more information.
She has to rein in her enthusiasm, though, so that she doesn't leave Mrs. Tsubasa and Mrs. Maria behind, especially since Mrs. Tsubasa has kept her hand on her shoulder all throughout, just as she had done earlier—it's comforting, really, but it also makes her a bit anxious.
(Emotions can be so troublesome and contradictory.)
A wiggly-looking octopus waves a tentacle at her, half-blending into the coral behind it, and a clown fish flits in and out of an anemone right next to the octopus. It takes her by surprise, that they live so close yet don't disturb each other. Then again, the aquarium probably makes sure the octopus is fed other stuff—or maybe they replace the fish…?
Tilting her head to try to catch a glimpse of the octopus's beak, she overhears, "We have over fifty exhibits here, from all regions of the world!" She wonders why the tour guide is still going on about that, when they're well-into the tour.
Eventually they arrive at the shark tanks, and she becomes practically glued to the glass.
Huge creatures, with huge teeth and huge heads and huge fins and probably a huge appetite, too, but not for humans. She finds it funny that the great white shark goes around with its mouth open, and the hammerhead definitely makes her smile. Then there are the smaller sharks, like the nurse shark that nearly blends into the sand below, and baby sharks, too!
Later, she's going to ask Mrs. Tsubasa and Mrs. Maria to let her have a shark stuffed animal. She just has to gather the courage, first.
a/n: Woooo, fifty chapters! I'm sorry it's so short, but I'm at a friend's house and, like, yeah. I'll get around to writing a long chapter... soon. In fact, if anyone has ideas or whatever that they want to see incorporated in the story, please do tell me ^^.
Please review!