“Grace, are you excited?” Lia asked for the tenth time this morning.

“Yes!” I exclaimed. We were heading to the aquarium today. Lia and I were so excited to finally see the fish! Both of us loved the water and everything inside.

Lia clapped her hands, and a wide grin spread on her face. “Are we there yet?” She asked.

Mom turned around and gave us one of her widest smiles. “Almost!” she said.

“I can’t wait!” I shouted.

Just then, we pulled up in front of the large building. I head Lia gasp.

“I know.” I said. “It’s so pretty!”

The walls were shaped to look like waves. A huge goldfish was painted on one side.

We walked inside the aquarium, our jaws hitting the floor.

“Grace. This is So. Cool!” Lia looked around.

There were jellyfish, starfish, sharks, turtles, corals, and little plants with names I couldn’t pronounce! They were the prettiest creatures I’d ever seen.

The real attraction was the goldfish. I grabbed Lia’s arm, and pulled her over to the giant fish.

“Wow,” Lia whispered. I could tell she thought it was amazing.

“It’s so big!” I cried. I put my hands on the glass, and pretended to touch the fish.

I could have sworn the goldfish was talking to me. It looked right into my eyes, and blew a few bubbles. Lia laughed and clapped her hands.

“Look, Grace!” she exclaimed. “It likes you!”

I smiled. “I’m going to name it Greenie.”

“You should name it Golden.” Lia argued.

“No!” I shouted. “Greenie! Like the kelp!” It was important to me that I named the fish Greenie. I don’t know why.

“Girls! Quiet.” Mom scolded. She snuck up behind us. “Look.” She pointed to a sign. “The fish’s name is Bubbles.”

“No.” I shook my head. “It’s Greenie!”

Lia stuck her tongue out at me. “Bubbles!”

“Greenie!”

“I hate to say this, Grace, but Lia’s right. The fish is called Bubbles. Maybe you can name another fish?” Mom said. She began to steer us towards another display.

“Its name is Greenie.” I said again.

Mom sighed, and Lia just stared at me.

I looked back as we walked away, and smiled at the pretty fish.

“It’s okay, Greenie. I know who you really are.”

I could have sworn Greenie smiled back.

_____

Author’s note: I haven’t really written anything in a children’s format so hopefully this was okay!