Nothing Else Implied

9:32 a.m. Emma stuck her phone back in the pocket of her yellow hoodie. Her hazel eyes fixated on the back of the person in front of her as she considered her plans. All around her, a crowd of travelers hurried up and down the train station’s concourse at the same time.

9:32. That means if I can get an uber in the next half-hour, I can be home by ten-thirty, maybe eleven if there’s a lot of traffic. Still three whole hours before dad goes off to work, I should be able to surprise him.

He’ll be so happy! Or, maybe just surprised. Or… maybe upset?

This was unplanned after all—she wasn’t supposed to be off for another two weeks. She imagined herself showing up unannounced and having to explain how she 1. took multiple modes of public transport, thereby risking her safety, and 2. unnecessarily spent money to do it. Both were things that directly went against what he’d taught her, and all for the sake of surprising him. She suddenly found the idea of him being upset all too probable. Regardless, she decided to go through with it. Lecture aside, this would be a happy surprise.

She reached the east side of the station and immediately headed towards the aquarium. Having been a part of the station for nearly two decades now, the forty-foot-long fish tank was more often approached for its surrounding seating rather than its out-of-place beauty, so Emma always went out of her way to appreciate it. She strolled around the perimeter of the massive thing until she came across a spot with almost no people around, then she stuck out her hand and began trailing her index finger against the thick, curved acrylic. She caught the attention of a few rock fish and smiled as she watched them follow after her.

Sitting about ten feet ahead was an older blonde woman and her son. The lady was lost on her phone, speaking harshly to someone about having to reschedule her trip. Her son meanwhile, a boy of about ten with a straight mop of chocolate brown hair, watched the aquatic shepherdess with wide eyes. He tugged at his mom’s cardigan so she could see, but to no avail. He moved closer and knelt up on his seat, pressing his palms against the acrylic.

“What do you think these are?” he suddenly called to her. Emma broke from her trance and looked to him. His curious gaze was set right on her, so there was no denying he was talking to her. She glanced at his mom, but she was still deep in conversation. Emma took some cautious steps forward and looked. He hadn’t been pointing at any of the fish; rather he was pointing at the acrylic itself, or more accurately at the series of drawings etched onto it. Her eyes lit up—this was something she knew.

“Those represent the indigenous people who lived here hundreds of years ago, and those represent the first settlers. They wrap around the whole tank—it’s part of the art piece.”

The words made him pause. He gave a quick look around at the surrounding walls. “What art piece?”

“This art piece.” Emma gestured at the tank. “The aquarium, it’s an art piece.”

The boy looked at her like she’d just grown a second head. “It’s not art, it’s fish…” he argued. “they’re alive.” His matter-of-fact tone made her snicker.

“Look, I’m not gonna stand here and pretend to understand the qualifications of art with you—it doesn’t make much sense to me either but that’s what it is. This whole thing, it’s an art piece, designed by artists, brought to life with the help of some biologists.”

“So it’s supposed to be art?” The boy looked back at the piece and shrugged. “They could have chosen bigger fish…”

“No, they actually chose these on purpose. All of the fish in here are native to our very own Pacific Ocean. The whole thing celebrates California’s history and pays homage to the people and creatures that define it,” she said with enthusiasm.

“Do you work here?” A new voice rang out. Emma turned to see the boy’s mother staring at her curiously, phone now put away. She blushed intensely and shook her head.

“Oh, I don’t. I just learned about it in a bio course I took last year. My professor was actually consulted when it was designed.”

The woman nodded her head disinterestedly and got up. “Theo, I have to run to the kiosk to get us our new tickets, stay with the nice girl until I get back,” she instructed with a severe point.

“Oh, I was actually just about to—” Emma muttered, but the woman left before she could finish.

Okay…

She looked back at the boy awkwardly. “I’m not really used to talking to kids… do you want a snack?” Theo stared, unimpressed. “I can pull up some cartoons on my phone?”

“Just, be normal,” he suggested, and turned back to the tank. “What else do you know about it?”

Emma gladly followed his lead. “I can tell you that this tank holds seventy-five hundred gallons of saltwater. Once in a while you’ll see someone in full diving gear go in to clean it. They monitor the ph levels weekly to make sure the fish are comfortable.”

Theo pressed his nose up against the glass. “So how come the fish don’t eat each other?”

Emma looked in at the peaceful creatures and shrugged. “This tank has been here for over twenty years. At this point, I’m sure they must all be great friends. It’d be really awkward to eat your friend,” she said optimistically. He was just a kid after all. Theo, to her surprise, shook his head.

“They just have to be hungry enough…”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “You’re kinda dark.” He beamed at that.

“It’s true! I saw this documentary once and all the fish ate each other. Like, anchovies, and plankton get eaten because they’re small, right? But then small fish, like, the size of these orange ones, they also ate bigger fish! It’s so cool! There are no rules in the ocean.”

It may have been true enough, but Emma still wanted to end the conversation on a lighter note.

“Well, I don’t think these fish would do that. Their lives in the ocean may have been rough, but here they’re catered to. They know they don’t have to fight to survive,” she offered. He frowned his disagreement.

“Animals survive off instinct. Someone just has to forget to feed them once…”

Well dang.

“You have the makings of a real scientist, Theo. You should look into marine biology when you’re older—you’ll get to learn about all sorts of cool ocean things.”

He mulled the idea around but shrugged.

“Maybe. I’m gonna be a racecar driver first though.”

“Ah... well after that, then."

Emma made her way back up the concourse afterward and into the west side of the station. She spared a second to look around as she walked. Union station was a beautiful sight right then, covered from top to bottom with cheerful, extravagant Christmas decorations. That, paired with the high-rectangular windows near the ceiling bestowing the place with light, gave everything a magical quality. She’d always loved the train station around the holidays.

She was about to make her way to the waiting area when her stomach growled and made her nauseous.

On second thought, maybe I should stop for breakfast first…

There were a number of concessions all around her, but the buttery scent wafting over from the nearby Wetzel’s Pretzels cart quickly won her over. Five minutes later she sat happily in the patio, a cup of freshly-made pretzel bites in hand. She checked the time on her phone again.

Alright, five minutes to eat these, then I’ll look for an Uber. It shouldn’t change anything.

Emma looked around the tiny open space and took notice of the few other travelers out there: two teenagers glued to their phones under a tree, a tourist in a bright T-shirt taking pictures of some birds, and on the bench nearest her, an elderly couple sitting close together, laughing sweetly as if they were on a date. Each one of those people was there for their own complex reason, each with lives completely different from her own. Odds were this would be the only time any of their paths would cross, and she found this thought fascinating.

Having finished her impromptu breakfast, she pulled out her phone and opened her ride-sharing app. Only the luxury car option was available.

Probably should have expected this in such a busy area…

She considered paying the extra amount, but ultimately didn’t take it.

Nice try Uber, but I’m not in a hurry. I’ll just try again in twenty minutes.

It was such a pleasant day, after all. As she walked back up the path towards the entrance, Emma caught sight of a rollie pollie crossing in front of her and stopped. The little thing was very slowly making its way towards the grass. She was about to step over it and walk off, but at the same time the door opened a few yards away and a whole family entered the patio, obliviously talking amongst themselves. She quickly bent down and plucked it from the ground.

Sorry about this, little guy, but you’re not safe here.

She carried it over towards some foliage in the back and let it down where she thought it was least likely to be trampled. It had balled itself up, so she let it roll safely out of her palm and into the grass. Once it was down, it opened up again and started busily crawling away.

Safe from humans and safe from birds now, there you go.

Back inside the station, Emma found a nice, mostly secluded spot near the back of the waiting area and took a seat.

Might as well continue with the book…

She scrolled down to her current audiobook and had just grabbed her earbuds when someone stopped in front of her. It was an older man, seemingly in his mid-thirties, with a dark, neatly kept beard, a trendy vested outfit, and a flat cap.

“Sorry to bother you, I need to use the restroom. Would you mind watching my things just for a minute?” he asked in a soft Russian accent. He gestured about ten feet to his right where a small bag and laptop were stacked on top of a chair.

“Oh, uh, sure,” she answered. The man rushed a thank you before jogging off. Emma again considered how truly amazing it was to be able to meet people from all walks of life there. She glanced back at his things, still there, and gave a quick look around. No one seemed to be eyeing them suspiciously. She put in her earbuds and continued the story.

I should turn the volume down so I can listen better. She thought very soon after, doing just that.

She got about ten more lines into the story before checking the chair again. It was still fine, there was still no one nearby. Ten more lines and she checked again.

Ok, I’ll just pivot so I’m facing it. That way I’ll be able to see through my peripheral vision and won’t need to look as often.

And that’s what she did, but now that the things were partly in sight, she felt the need to double check even more. Five more lines and she checked again. Three more and she checked again. She paused the book.

This is ridiculous, I should just sit closer. Then I won’t be as worried.

This was accomplished easily enough, as there were actually very few people taking advantage of the seating area right then. She took the spot directly behind his things and to the right.

Great, they’re right in front of me. Now I can get back to what I was doing. She un-paused the story, then immediately paused it again. Ah, forget it. I can just wait for him to get back. How long has it been anyways? I feel like he’s been gone a while. She checked her phone. It had just barely been five minutes. Oh…

The man soon jogged up again, chest moving up and down as he subtly caught his breath.

“Oh, I’m sorry, you didn’t have to move for me,” he said kindly.

“No, it’s fine, I was just reading anyways,” Emma insisted. He nodded.

“Well, thank you for watching my things.”

Emma assured him it was no problem and returned to her seat. The man meanwhile picked his things up and left.

There were still no available rides, but Emma set it to keep looking regardless. After that, she comfortably slumped back and started her audiobook again.

She'd come to find the sight of scurrying travelers a welcome visual distraction while she listened to the book. She enjoyed guessing who they were, the sort of conversations they were having with their companions, and what it was they were heading towards. After about ten minutes though, the story was reaching its climax, so she tucked her light-brown locks behind her ears, raised the volume and opened the accompanying text to follow along with instead.

As she read, she started biting her thumbnail—she hated this part. The immersion didn’t last long though; she was soon distracted by someone walking up and taking the seat directly across from her.