Fathom by L. Standage (spanish books to read .TXT) 📕

like this place is super interactive. Feeding dolphins, petting tide pool creatures, that kind of stuff. I’m thinking about checking if they have any job openings.”

“I’d like to see sharks if they have any,” she said.

“Definitely,” I replied with a smile.

We found a space in the parking lot in between two minivans. A groomed and gardened entrance welcomed us, along with a person in a dolphin costume. We went to the tidal pool exhibition first, where Sam begged me to quit describing the gritty details of how a sea star digested its food. She snapped pictures left and right while I scanned the brochure we received at the gate.

“This place isn’t nearly as cool as Sea World,” I said. “They don’t even have a dolphin show.” I looked around, noticing the flowers, pretty shrubs, and well-kept exhibits ended from there. The rest of this place felt sparse and small. I looked back down at my brochure. “There is a dolphin feeding, but it doesn’t start until 12:30. Let’s just walk around until then,” I said.

“Ooh, sharks!” she said, pointing at a sign labeled with a cartoon great white. I grinned, linked my arm through hers, and we both hurried to exhibit.

We came to the shark exhibit, which not only disappointed, but angered me. None of the sharks were very big, the tanks were too small for the species they kept, and the bluish water looked cloudy. With their rows of jagged teeth jutting from their mouths and their unblinking eyes staring at us, the sharks swam lethargically on the other side of the glass.

“Look at that one!” said Samantha, pointing and gazing like a six-year-old.

“That’s a whitetip shark. My dentist went scuba diving in Tahiti with those.”

“No way!” Her wide eyes turned toward me.

“Yeah, he told me about it when I had to get my teeth cleaned last February. He knows I like marine life.” I looked back at the white-tip and frowned. A patch of discoloration marred the shark’s side.

“And he didn’t freak out?” she asked.

I kept my eyes on the injured whitetip. “Nah, it’s not like they were great whites.”

“They can still eat you,” she said as she lifted her camera to her eye and clicked it over and over.

“Probably, if they were hungry,” I said, but only to scare Sam. She shuddered with odd pleasure, while part of me wondered just how well the park fed these poor things.

We continued through the park and the more exhibits we saw, the angrier I became. I may not have been a real marine biologist, but I knew crumbling concrete and rusty beams couldn’t be good for the fish. This was supposed to be a brand-new park!

“Sam, these fish aren’t compatible,” I said, looking into a tank containing loach and cory fish. “Why would the park put them in the same tank?”

“I dunno,” she said. “Maybe to work out their differences?”

“And look at that plecostomus. It has a torn fin. And look! There’s a dead silver dollar fish in that tank!”

“Really?” she said, lowering her camera to look where I pointed. “Gross.”

“Seriously, what kind of idiot did they put in charge of this place?” I ground my teeth as we came to an overcrowded tank of angelfish.

“I doubt any normal person has thought twice about it,” she said.

“Doesn’t make it okay.”

“Put in a complaint,” she suggested.

“Yeah,” I said, eyeing the angelfish tank with a scowl. “I think I will. Maybe I’ll apply for a job too. Maybe then the animals will actually get clean tanks and decent food.” Thinking of fish food reminded me of the dolphins. “Hey, what time is it?”

Sam pulled out her phone. “Twelve-twenty.”

“Let’s go feed the dolphins. It starts in ten minutes.”

“How about you feed the dolphins and I’ll watch,” she said with snarky smile.

We walked out of the aquarium exhibit and toward the dolphins. The pool built to feed them was decorated with large artificial rocks and surrounded by a thick concrete balustrade. Fortunately, everything looked well-kept in this area. I got in line at a small snack shack next to the pool, only instead of people snacks, it sold frozen, smelly sardines in a paper container.

“Look, Sam. Dolphin french fries.” I held my paper container under her nose.

She flinched. “Ugh. Go get a space before they’re all taken by the other weird people who love fish too much.” She gestured toward the pool and got out her camera.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the inconvenience, but the dolphin encounter is cancelled for the day. Please come again.”

“What?” I said to the sky. “I just bought these fish! Ugh, this place is awful.” I took my container of sardines back to the snack shack. The girl working the register saw me coming and held up her hands.

“Hey, I’m sorry the feeding was cancelled, but all sales are final,” she said before I could get a word out. I dropped the stack of sardines into the trash and frowned.

“It’s not just the dolphins,” I said, my anger rising. “This whole place is a marine animal death trap.”

She shrugged helplessly. “I just do sales. I don’t know anything about the animals.” Something caught her eye behind me. Her face twitched into a frown. She gestured across the dolphin-less feeding pool. “That’s the park’s owner, over there. The guy in the suit. You don’t like it here? Take it up with him.”

She smirked. I turned to look where she pointed. Across the pool, past the other disappointed park patrons, I saw the back of a man walking in another direction. He wore a dark blue suit and had light hair. The ire that had built up in my chest spurred me to follow him. The guy had to have marine biologists working here. They had to know this park was unsafe for the animals. He couldn’t keep ignoring it, especially if a patron of his park noticed all the problems.

“Let’s go, I’m hungry,” said Sam.

“Hang on,” I replied. “I want to go tell that guy he’s