Through the din of treading feet and brushing shoulders, Emmeline emerged to face the newly-opened aquarium doors. Shuffling her way through the towering adults, she aimed for the edge of the crowd. Checkered pants, long trench coats, and a colored variety of trilby hats marbled her vision. A subtle sea-side aroma filled the spacious room, mingling strangely with the blend of expensive perfumes worn by the excited mass. It was a wonder that Emmeline was able to enter the exhibit on its opening day. As the first great attraction to open in Chicago, and the only aquarium built in this part of the United States, tickets were exclusively available to the higher class of the city who could afford such grisly prices. Emmeline had been stopped by an old and intriguing stranger this morning who had inquired very oddly of her imagination.
Emmeline thought back to the moment “Child, do you like to dream?” Dreams were where she found her hope and excitement as an orphan in Hadley’s Home. Emmeline had replied with a simple, “Yes, ma’am. It’s all I have.” With that response the old woman knelt down as quickly as her aged joints would allow and handed her the most beautiful piece of paper she had ever seen. It had a deep blue background with silver elevated print, boldly exclaiming “ADMIT ONE.” Beneath the bold, there was an elegant image of an opened oyster with a pearl gently resting on its interior cushion. A cursive inscription filled the rest of the card; “The Shedd Aquarium Opening Event. Entry on the Thirtieth of May, Nineteen Hundred and Thirty at Nine O’clock Ante Meridiem.” She looked up after a moment of admiring the design. There was a gentle smile on the woman’s face. The profound look in her vibrant blue eyes seemed to express a deep perception of Emmeline’s sore past. “Then take this, and you will see what no one else could ever imagine.” She rested her hand on Emmeline’s shoulder for a moment of reassurance and encouragement. Then she stood, offered a final smile, and faded into the crowded street before her.
A sudden bump on her shoulder knocked her out of the reverie. “I am sorry, my dear. This building is much too full.” A large man grunted, glancing down at her, and moving again into the mess of the mob. Emmeline stayed on the edge of the jumble. She waited for the eager group to move first through the exhibit before she began her tour. Her tight brown curls clung to her neck from the man-made humidity that had collected in the building. She could feel her cheeks warming to an even rosier complexion. She assumed the workers must keep it very hot inside to accommodate the natural temperatures of the marine life. She felt the anticipation rise inside her chest. This was the first time she could remember such excitement since the days her father would bring her to his work, showing her all the marvelous cogs and gears he used to make clocks. She would dream in his shop; imagine elves and little wood-bound creatures reaching their tiny hands into the most intricate parts to make them run. A familiar sensation came over her; one that left a pit in her stomach and a hole in her heart. Loneliness. She shook her head briefly, breathed in deep and pretended to blow the feelings out of her soul with a long exhale. The woman was very kind to her this morning. She would keep her mind focused on the beautiful things around her…and dream. She couldn’t wait to witness the brilliant colors of the tropics and the terrifying profiles of the great sharks she had only read about in the adventure books from Hadley’s meager library.
Looking up, she realized she was the only one left in the entrance hall. It was her turn to enter the exhibit. She took a few steps forward and paused. Neptune’s Palace. The great sign in front of her unlocked a cistern of images in her mind. Mermaids, shipwrecks, treasure boxes, pirates. Before she knew it, she had entered a tour-long adventure. She swam through each exhibit, rescuing overboard sailors, defending helpless flounders against barracudas and monstrous jellyfish, and discovering long lost wrecks that held the world’s greatest treasures. Each room opened more of her imagination, and each tank held the next chapter of her exhilarating story. She hardly noticed the growing darkness as she moved further along in the exhibition. With a final blow to the giant octopus, defeating the monster and releasing a cloud of black ink, Emmeline found herself in the darkest section of the aquarium.
She could hear the murmur of the crowd before her. She had caught up to them. The only lights were a few on the back floor of the largest tank yet. A loud, convincing voice echoed through the room. “Ladies and Gentlemen, before you is the freshwater wonder—the largest catfish in the world.” Emmeline pushed her way to the front of the gathering until she was standing right in front of the tall glass. The back of the tank was lit, creating a low grey hue behind the creature that made its profile stand out more prominently than all the other animals she had seen in the tour—even the sharks. She couldn’t believe it. Its whiskers alone were as long as she was tall. The fish itself must have been fifteen feet in length; so large that the usual rapid movement of the gills seemed to be in a slowed time warp. Every movement it made seemed unnaturally slow. Emmeline observed the carved muscular structure under its scales. It was a monster, yet there was something more about it that intrigued her. She looked into its catfish eye. It was dark; deep and knowing. How could such a creature be found in an American lake? The thought made her shiver. She had gone swimming in lakes many times with her parents when they took her to New York mountains where she spent her childhood summers. It was always a wonderful time. Joy. Peace. Excitement. Overall contentment. The warm feeling of her past was again overpowered by the familiar and painful reality of her loneliness.
She was roused from her thoughts by the sound of clicking heels moving into the next room and the dull hum of folks saying to their friends, “Now wasn’t that interesting.” When the last voice had echoed through the corridors and into silence, she noticed that the catfish had finally swum the length of the tank and was turning around. It reminded her of her father who would pace the kitchen floor every time he had a decision to make. What decision could you be making right now, Mr. Catfish? She thought to herself. She was glad it was turning around because there was something about its eye that had captivated her and she wanted to look at the other one; perhaps she could determine what it was. When the fish was far enough into its turn that she could catch a glimpse of its eye, she lost her breath and felt her eyes grow wider than they naturally should. Her jaw dropped slightly causing her closed, rosy lips to part open. She could feel no air passing over them. She stood in amazement and horror, unable to move or think. Before her was the largest eye she had ever seen. It spanned the entire side of the giant catfish’s head. Emmeline took a step back still unable to believe what she was witnessing. Its eye was remarkably human in appearance. She saw her traumatized reflection in its deep black pupal and brown iris. The catfish-girl exchange that passed in that moment was neither long nor short. It was exactly the duration that it needed to be. The catfish turned again, revealing the first and normal eye that had originally captivated Emmeline. She took two more steps back, eyes still wide, mouth still open, breath still gone. With a final glance at whole image of the giant wonder, Emmeline ran out of the exhibition’s exit and toward the growing din of the crowd in front of her. She said nothing of her discovery, but followed the group to the aquarium’s end with the satisfying knowledge that she had seen what no one else could ever imagine.
July 10, 2018