The dark figures lurked beneath my bare floating feet. Soft skin grazed my arms and legs, leaving fleeting tingling sensations as I swam up for air. A few stingrays followed my ascent to the surface. The last thing I expected to do on my vacation to Hawaii was a “Swimming with the Stingrays” activity, and yet, it proved to be much more enjoyable than I had anticipated. The original plan was obviously to go to the beach, which is why I had my swim trunks on during the plane ride, hoping to step off the cold, dry airplane right into warm, tropical waters. However my family and I made the incorrect assumption that Hawaii always has that perfect, sun-kissed weather seen on TV. Unfortunately, Hawaii had different plans, and decided to drop a thunderous mess of a storm on us. Out of nowhere, a tan-rugged looking man approached us in the rain, both hearing and seeing our despair, offered us an alternative aquarium activity. Certainly a situation that raises suspicion, but we took it anyway. The directions to the aquarium were long and confusing, making us question the credibility of this man multiple times. But eventually, by some miracle of God, we had reached the aquarium. One thing led to another, and we were suddenly in a locker room, strapping on life vests. We were lead out to the edge of a very long, rectangular, indoor swimming pool. Before we swam, our instructor taught us how to hold, and feed the stingrays, taking a generous amount of time to do so. Even after we were allowed into the pool, I still had a slight reluctance of diving in, seeing those deadly barbs. Eventually I managed to steel myself and eased into the pool. To my pleasant surprise, I found stingrays to be very cuddly and gentle. Certainly not the image I originally had developed after hearing about the unfortunate accident with Steve Irwin. But as soon as I had become comfortable, what I saw at the pool’s bottom had me bolting right back towards the pool ladder. A large group of blue sharks were skimming the pool’s bottom, their trademark dorsal fins piercing through the water like knives. Though the much more concerning knives could be seen jutting out from their large mouths, from which the sharks produced almost sinister smiles. I floated for a second, frozen in shock and awe. I could hear the famous Jaws theme resonate in my head, and everything I thought I knew about sharks sprang forth, stirring up a life-flashing moment. This intense fear I had finally broke my shock and thrust me from the water, thrusting my first swear word from my mouth as well. Running to my onlooking parents, I told them what I saw, gasping for breath. All they could muster were looks of confusion, which was quite frustrating to me, as I was sure there were lives at risk. Overhearing the conversation, the instructor strolled over to us, doubled over, like he had a stomachache. Once he straightened back up, his wide smile and teary eyes revealed that he was laughing, frustrating me even more. I propped my hands against my waist, and glared at him, waiting for an explanation. “You say you saw some sharks?” he said, feigning quite a genuine look of surprise. I nodded vigorously and urged him to evacuate the pool. He only laughed again, and assured me there was no danger, which to me sounded quite ridiculous. Taking me with him down a flight of stairs, he revealed the sharks that I had seen, swimming in a standard aquarium tank, but appallingly, the ceiling was opaque and dark, and I was unable to to see the swimmers above them. He straightened out this confusion, by introducing me to the magic of one-way glass. I realized that the sharks I had seen were completely separated from the stingrays, and any sense of danger I had felt, was actually an illusion. This was all just an elaborate way to add a little thrill to the activity, a thrill I didn’t take too well. In fact, even after realizing there was no danger, I refused to re-enter the pool. Just the idea of sharks seeming so close was enough to ruin the day for me. All of my misconceived ideas about sharks managed to rob me of what would’ve made for a great experience. Though of course there wasn’t any danger, maybe if I had known that sharks are in fact, much less threatening than they are made out to be, not nearly alike to the cold, blood-stained killers seen in popular belief, maybe if I didn’t let those stereotypes convince me, that day would’ve been different.