CHAPTER 8: THE ATLANTEAN PRINCE
1300 Words
The tour buses arrived at the zoo. The school rented it for the day. Students and parents stepped out of the buses and lined up at the zoo's entrance. One teacher was assigned to each bus.
"Zane, wake up. We're at the zoo now." His father tapped his cheek lightly to wake him up. He slowly opened his eyes and glanced at the window. The sun shone on his face, he covered his eyes using the back of his hand. He blinked a few times before looking at the window again. There was a signage on top of the entrance, City Zoo was written on it.
The teachers assigned to each class were checking the attendance. They guided them to form a single line at the entrance gate.
Teacher Dess, who's holding a log book, checked the names of her master list. "Kids, line up properly, okay?" Teacher Dess counted her students. "Do not go away far from your parents. Stay closer to them no matter what. Understood?"
She handed two stickers to each parent. "Please put the stickers on your left chest. The caterers need to see those upon distribution of meals at the buffet booth later for lunch. No sticker, no lunch."
"Yes, Ma'am," all her students replied.
"We should bring Wane and Anne here, Dad," Zane said. He is excited to see animals in person. "They have not seen elephants, tigers and all other animals in person."
"Yes, we will. I will save up for our family trip here. We have not been to the zoo for our family outing." Bren held Zane's hand, making sure his son would not go anywhere. "Let's enjoy today in the meantime."
"Dad, I am already ten," Zane complained. "No need to hold me like a kid."
"I am thirty-three," his father replied, laughing. "Just stay beside me, got it?" He let go of his son's hand.
"Yes, Dad." He grinned.
It is a fun day for Zane and his Dad. It is their first time bonding together, just the two of them. He loves his father so much. He admires him and looks up to him. He always listened to him and followed his lead.
They stopped in front of the elephants' open-air cage. There are three elephants inside, two adults and one baby elephant. "I think they are family." The baby elephant keeps following the biggest elephant, copying everything it does. "They look so cute together, Dad. The baby elephant is a copycat of the big one."
"They are family, son." He pointed at the elephant's ears. "See, their ears? The bigger one with huge ears is an African elephant, and the smaller elephant, a female, has smaller ears. She is an Asian elephant. Their baby looks like it has the features of the African elephant."
"What features did I get from you, Dad?" Zane asked his father with curious eyes. "You have brown eyes, and I have grey. You have an upturned nose, while mine is pointed. Your hair is a little curly and black while mine is pinned straight and in medium brown colour."
Bren was not able to answer immediately. He pointed at Zane's heart. "This. I want you to grow up as a fine man, with good manners and a pure heart. Those will be our similarities."
"I will, Dad. I look up to you. I will grow up like you, Dad." His innocent eyes show adoration for the father he loves the most. "I want to be a strong, honest, courageous and kind-hearted man."
"That's my son." He looked around. "Your classmates are going to the aquarium. Let's go there."
"Sure, Dad." He was hopping and running ahead while going to the aquarium. He felt light and happy while having a bonding time with his father.
They entered the indoor aquarium which was designed and built under the sea. They can see different species and marine life through a thick glass wall and ceiling. His jaw dropped while looking up at a group of stingrays swimming above him.
"Whoa! It's beautiful here!" His eyes scanned the enormous underwater tunnel, showing different fish. "Are those stingrays? And that one over there is a dolphin!" He leaned on the glass wall and made his face closer to it. The dolphin went closer to his face and winked at him. "Dad! It winked at me! Did you see?"
He looked at his father, who was also busy looking at other fish. He turned his head back to the dolphin, and it was still staring at him.
"Did you wink at me? Did you?" The dolphin made his whole body move like a nod and then he winked again. Zane's jaw dropped. He could understand the dolphin's movements!
"What in the world is happening?" he said to himself. He stared into the dolphin's eyes, and he immediately understood that it was happy to see him, and so as the other creatures in the aquarium. "How can I understand you?"
All species in the aquarium look like they are dancing, moving faster than usual. "Why are you all excited to see me?"
The students and parents clapped their hands at the beautiful sighting.
"They are happy to have an audience, I guess," the mother of his classmate said. "They are dancing!"
"They are happy to see me, Mom!" his classmate said.
Zane could not believe what he was seeing. A few swordfish formed a line in front of him and did rotation movements. He thought of his secret ability. "Does it have anything to do with the fish?" he asked himself. He tilted his head while thinking. The swordfish tilted their bodies, too.
"All right, let me try this." He looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to him. His father's eyes are fixed on the giant stingray on another side of the tunnel, the others are looking at different species. "Good." He raised his right arm a bit and moved all his fingers upward, commanding them to swim up. The swordfish did what he instructed, then they went back again near him. He then moved his finger forming a circle, and the group of swordfish did what he wanted them to do.
"Holy moly cow! What the heck is happening?!" His mouth went open, and his eyes went bigger because of shock. "You can understand me even with this glass between us?" he whispered. The swordfish and even the dolphin nodded.
"What kind of powers do I have? How can I command water animals?" He looked back to see where his father was. He is walking towards him.
"Are you having fun, son?"
"Yes, Dad. I learned a lot today." He looked back at the swordfish and the dolphin, they were still staring at him.
"Let's move to other parts of the aquarium." His father held his arm and pulled him towards the inner portion of the aquarium. He waved his other hand to say goodbye to them.
"I will be back," he whispered.
They spent the whole day with a smile on Zane's face. He had fun with his Dad, and he discovered his power. "I wonder why I have these powers, and do I have other powers?" He keeps on asking himself these questions. "Am I a freak? Am I the only one in the family who has powers?" He stared at his father, who was focused on driving home. "Does father have powers, too?"
- Writer
