A cleaning crew mops the pathway of an aquarium. The place is mostly lit by natural light during the day, so the place has darkened drastically at 2am. The sound of flowing water hovers over the sound of the mop.
- Never thought an aquarium got this dirty
- Yeah, that's what most newbies say. Not many people think about our job. Suppose it has something to do with the night. I don't think people are too keen on thinking about what happens in the dark.
- You mean like the sea. Suppose the beach is like the day. People love going to the beach to see the ocean, but they don't venture too far. If it's dark, then a lot of people avoid the ocean. We don't know what lives in the deepest part of the ocean, but it's probably not meant for human eyes.
- It's not the grandest job, or the most famous one for that matter. But, it sure pays well.
- About that... why do we get paid so much?
- what do you mean?
- I mean, this job pays twice the job of any other job I applied for, but we're just Janitors.
- I've thought that too.
- it's to keep us quiet. This place is supposed to be an aquarium, but I've never heard about it. It's on an island where the only way to get onto it is a ferry from San Francisco. If what they were doing was legal, then this place would be like the aquarium in Monterey. Everyone would know about it.
-Don't mind him newbie. Years of work have made him bitter.
The man that told him this was a head taller than him. His name was Darryl. Most of the men were at least a head taller than him. The only reason that the recent college grad was taller than the veteran among them, the old man had spent twenty years at the aquarium, was the old man's tendency to slouch.
- I've watched this aquarium exchange three owners. I was here when the owners were illegally shipping shark fins. So, I have something that you don't Darryl. That's experience!
Although Darryl only trumped him in height by a couple inches, his bulky stature carved an imposing figure. It was interesting to see the old man yell at this giant of a man, but something else caught his attention. The grumbling man's voice began to fade into the background. The sound of rushing water filled his ear drums. He felt like he was engulfed in a waterfall; however, it wasn't a constant stream of sound. There were lulls in the white sound as though the stream of water slowed down and sped up. Something large was moving through water. He looked toward the largest body of water in the room. On one side of the exhibit that they were cleaning, there was a large glass wall peering into a seemingly empty enclosure. Upon further inspection, he noticed that there were rocks and aquatic decorations lining the sandy bottom which housed some fish. Peculiarly, the fish began darting in the opposite direction of the glass screen, but he couldn't see what they were fleeing from. He tried getting a closer look, but the sound of rushing water stopped abruptly. Suddenly, the sand near the screen flew up in the water and turned into a cloud. As the cloud traveled up through the tank, it clung to a large white body with black eyes the size of dinner plates. A gaping blackness hung below the eyes. He only saw the rows of teeth that lurked there when they penetrated the glass screen.