What Matters

I’ve never been one for aquariums, but my sister Penny insisted.  She was wearing her Boston Whaler sweatshirt, her arms were tucked out of her sleeves and instead, hugged her sides. She shivered.

“Jack, I always get wet on the boat when you drive it,” she whined, looking at me. The way her chartreuse eyes gleamed in the sunlight, I could’ve sworn God dropped rainbows around her irises before she was born.

“Oh really?” I question, slipping out a few Lincolns while the lady handed us our tickets.

“Yeah. You go too fast,” she said, taking the child’s ticket from my hand.

“I was only trying to get here before the animals got tired,” I lied. I loved going fast more than a Nascar driver, and my sister knew as well as I did that the passion wasn’t restricted to highways. When I got the chance to speed, letting the wind ruffle my hair and hear the motor roar, I took it.

“You’re a liar Jack,” she reminded me.

“Fine. What would make it up to you? Other than just paying for those tickets, I mean,” I said, pulling open the tinted doors to the aquarium.

“Hm. Take me to see the otters during lunch-time. I heard they do shows then,” she said, and then dashed into the aquarium.

As I entered, I realized I was surrounded by dim lights and stone in between the thick sheets of glass. It was like an underwater castle, and it was big enough for even Poseidon to approve of. As I watched the stingrays swim up against the tank, I glanced behind me. Penny’s strawberry lips curved into a smile. “Look, it’s a Leatherback sea turtle!” she exclaimed, pointing.

The turtle’s shell was a starry night sky. Black and scattered with white dots and streaks, it almost made me question why it was named after a cow’s hide and not a Van Gogh painting. It swam, tilted to its left side, struggling to stay flat.

I walked over.
               
“He’s missing a flipper,” I said as I read the sign. “Apparently, due to a commercial fishing boat. His name is Jeremy.”

“He looks more like a Sycamore,” she said.

“A Sycamore is a tree,” I corrected her.

“Not this time. This time, a Sycamore is the name for a turtle,” she stayed certain.“I read once that Sycamore trees symbolized protection and strength. And Sycamore is being protected and had to be strong to live through being caught by fishermen.”

I shook my head. She was always this way, finding the oddest connections in things. Sometimes, she made me feel really stupid. Other times, she left me stunned.

I gazed at Sycamore , and watched him as he continued swimming in circles. What a sad life, to be once so free and fast, now struggling all alone.

“Yeah, he must’ve been strong alright,” I said, waiting for a reply.

It never came.

I turned my head away from the tank, to find my sister missing. The crowd was starting to get bigger now. I started scrambling through the maze.

“Penny?” I shouted, glancing at the faces of other children. A six year old picking his nose. A  ten year old putting a photo of a seahorse on Instagram. Twins fighting over who gets to hold the camera next. No Penny.

I continued to search. The aquarium hallways grew narrow, and the lights were dimmer than streetlamps. I glanced to my left as Great Whites swam beside me. His teeth were huge, and his demeanor was terrifying. A man in a scuba suit was swimming beside the shark, guiding it to travel closer to the tank before feeding it a chunk of fish.

I glanced at my phone. It was 12:09 PM, as my stomach began to growl. It was lunch.

I started running through the aquarium once more, but this time I knew where I was going. When my feet stopped carrying me, I was by the otter exhibit. Penny was there, watching the otters do underwater backflips, clap their paws, and race around in the water. I exhaled.

“Penny,” I said, finally allowed to breathe.

She looked behind her.

“Jack!” she ran up to me, and hugged me tightly. “You lost me, didn’t you?”

“Hey, I found you didn’t I?” I said, hugging her back. "You went through this aquarium too fast."

"I did?" She asked, surprised. "I thought you'd keep up with me!"

Once the otters were done eating, we went back to the boat. I dried off her favorite seat, and this time, drove the boat slower than usual. Penny knew it too. Looking at me with bright blue eyes, she gave me a smirk, and looked out onto the water. The sun was setting out on the horizon, and we were thirty minutes away from home, but for once I wasn’t in a rush to get back. I had Penny, and that’s what mattered.