Whale Sharks and My Family

I was on vacation with my family - parents and siblings. We were on some beach that I think was maybe in Florida. We'd just arrived and decided to go swimming. There was this body of water that was like a combination of a lake and a pool, and there were four "whale sharks" swimming in it. They did not look like what real whale sharks do in real life...



...they were dark, almost black, glossy, and a bit bigger than a beluga. Although somebody told me there were four of them in there, I only saw three.

My father caught my attention and beckoned me over to where he was. There was a separate room with the "hot tub" in it - it was really just a smaller pool surrounded by large rocks and encased in glass, like a greenhouse. There was steam rising off the surface of the water. One whale shark swam in this water. My father was on the edge of the pool opposite from where I stood. Without speaking, he told me "watch this." He raised his hand high in the air and waved. The whale shark mimicked him with its tail. It imitated my dad so closely that it's tail changed shape; his tail looked just like a glossy, black version of my father's hand, five fingers and all. They were like mirrors of each other.

My father did many other hand motions, all of which the whale shark imitated with its tail. Very late in this whole production, I noticed that there was a third hand coming out of the pool, and it was the hand of a gorilla. I thought to myself "that's impossible, how could there be a gorilla under there?" Immediately after that thought, Emil confirmed it. "The tour guide told me it's true," he said.

I kept watching my father, wondering at how he could make the whale shark's tail do all these different formations. I was also very nervous about my father being so close to the water, since he can't swim (which has inspired other dreams). He got wet, but didn't fall in. He was wearing a suit.

Later, we were in my sister's front yard in Atlanta, where all of her living room furniture was placed in a very organized fashion. We were deciding what to give away. I chose a broken lamp. My father pointed a television remote control at nothing and a light turned on. It was dusk, and the air felt damp. The light was hazy and there were shades of purple everywhere. My mother sat in an easy chair and read. Everything felt very peaceful and calm.