Don't Hate The Game by Anna Huscha (best pdf reader for ebooks .TXT) 📖

the shelf and walked down the hall towards the show tanks, taking a right halfway down the hall and continuing straight, she walked into the business office that was now open. It was nine ten, and two women and one man sat in the office.

"Hey guys, you know that sting ray we've been nursing?" Alex asked as she rested against the door jamb.

"Yeah, what about him?" Jane asked, she looked up from her paper work.

"She just gave birth" Alex said, putting an emphasis on the she.

"Well, look at that!" Mark said happily, everyone smiled.

"Hopefully she'll be good enough to put back into the wild with her babies.

"She looks healthy enough, her fin is just about better" Alex said, everyone nodded before she turned and headed back to the tanks. She fed the dolphins, fed the baby whale that swam around in the largest tank they had; he was going home tomorrow if no complications were to happen. She fed the seals and the sucker fish they were planning on releasing in the next week. Every animal had dates scheduled in leaving within the next week except for the shark. It was only around a 'teenage fish' but still was slightly dangerous. Nobody knew if he were going to attack anyone and if everyone went by their instincts, he wouldn't but everyone knew you couldn't trust yourself around a shark.

"Hey there little guy" Alex said as she placed her hand against the tank, the shark was swimming around, hovering then would swim, hover then swim. He came towards Alex and that's when she saw his hideous disfigurement along his left side. He had been attacked by a human who had a harpoon, struck him then hit him with his boat. It was a miracle the shark had survived.

Alex climbed the ladder and sat at the top, sitting on her knees as the bucket of fish rested next to her. She reached in and pulled one out, dangling it in the water to grab Sebastion's, as they call him, attention.

"I know you're harmless, for the most part, come here" Alex said, she couldn't believe she was really calling a shark harmless. Even if he hadn't wanted to be, it was in his nature, so he had no choice in the matter. It was either be vicious or be killed.

Sebastion, having smelled the fish, came swimming up, opening his mouth wide underneath the fish. As he did this, she dropped the fish down into his mouth, smiling as he swallowed it. This went on for another ten fish, Alex loved feeding the shark. He was, for the most part, a gentle giant who didn't want to hurt anyone but was hurt himself so it was the only thing he knew.

After the shark she checked in on the sting ray once more before going to the show tanks, watching as little kids pressed their faces up against the glass. There were three tanks that were for 'show'. In them, there were the turtles, three of them. In another one were the dolphins with two of them. And in the last tank housed the whale, the one that would soon have to get out of there.

Alex headed out, walking towards home, she smelled like fish and needed yet another shower.

"Hey, Alex!" Came a familiar voice from behind her, she turned around and saw the tall, athletic figure of her best friend.

"Oh, hey Nate" Alex said with a smile, he came up to her and wrinkled his nose.

"Ya know, your job really makes you stinky" Nate said, it was a joke but she couldn't help but nudge him.

"I save lives, I don't care how stinky it makes me" Alex said as she continue walking.

"Haha, I know, I know. Am sorry if I offended you" Nate said, looking down at her, she gave him a look that made him know to shut up.

"Anyways, how are you?" Alex asked, Nate fell into step with her after a moment.

"Oh you know, pretty good, can't complain really." Nate said, Alex nodded.

"Good, hey I gotta go shower. Again." She said, saying again with dread.

"Have fun with that" Nate said before turning and walking down towards the sand.

Alex walked into her house, she could hear the baby crying from upstairs, she knew her mother was awake. As for her dad, she didn't know. He was always a quiet man who kept to himself for the most part, rarely talking out of turn. Her mother had a kind heart, she couldn't ever hurt anything even if she had wanted to.

"Mom?" Alex called up the stairs as she climbed them, her moms head popped out of a room to the right.

"Oh, hey darlin'. How was work? Oh pew" She said as she plugged her nose.

"Was good, I need to shower if you couldn't tell, I'll return to this conversation in a few minutes" Alex said before going towards her room and repeating earlier routine.

"That's much better, fish really didn't ever go well with me" Her mother said as Alex walked in behind her in the babies room.

"I've always loved it but then again, I always went fishing" Alex said, leaning against the wall as the baby nursed with a blanket hiding him.

"It's kinda funny how you tend to animals yet love killing the fish" Her mom said as she rocked slowly in the chair, Alex chuckled.

"Well, I kill them to eat them, to live. I don't just kill them and throw them away, you know?" Alex asked, picking at a frayed thread on her shirt.

"Yes, I understand. So, any plans for the day?" She asked as she watched her, Alex shook her head.

"Well, just small things here and there, I'll leave you some privacy with the baby though. I need to go do something now that I think about it" Alex said, leaving no time for any reply. Tomorrow was her fathers birthday, and every year after the accident happened, she went and visited him. It was the least she could do.

Alex walked along the beach, wanting to be alone for some time before having any company. The small lapping of the water seemed to kiss her feet as it came up then went back down. The ocean was her favorite thing, the salty water made her happy while the soft, warm sand beneath her feet gave her entertainment every now and then; whenever she felt like it.

It was still early and Alex had no idea what she would do to pass the time or get her mind off of everything, as if reading her mind, along ran Nate.

"Hey you, was wondering when you'd come back out" He came running up, holding a Frisbee under his left arm.

"Hey.. what's that for?" She asked, he glanced down at it wondering what she was talking about, then returned his gaze to her.

"Ooh, this thing... a few of us were playing on the other side of the beach, came over to see if you wanted to play" Nate said, holding out the Frisbee to her, she contemplated it for a moment.

"Sure, why not? I have nothing else to do" Alex said, following him as they started towards the other end.

"Awesome!" Nate exclaimed as they walked, after a while it was silent and it made Nate uncomfortable but he didn't want to say anything. If Alex had seen his discomfort, she made no attempt to change it. She was lost in her own world. Nate glanced at her, staring at her face for a moment before walking ahead of her, she was too zoned out to notice that they had already made it to the area.

"Alex... Alleeeexxx" Nate spoke louder, trying to get her attention, she lazily looked over at him before noticing where they were.

"Oh! Wow! I'm sorry, I must've zoned out." Alex said nervously, rubbing the back of her neck with a small laugh.

"I noticed, alright Alex, you take the left" Jake, a summer time visitor, said. Since he was ten years old his family had owned a beach house along the farthest end of the beach, one of the biggest and oldest. A nice brown one with a dock on both the bottom and top floor; overlooking well along the water. Jake, obviously, had come from a very wealthy family who lived in Virgina when not down in North Carolina. He was shorter than the others by a few inches, with short black hair. He had dark skin, thanks to the summer sun, and didn't ever pass up a chance to take his shirt off. He had a cocky attitude, rarely listened, but loved to have fun and help people. As strange as that may be. When needed, he did lend an ear, but rarely.

"Alright, this is gonna be intense, a lot like football. You have to get to it before anyone else does. If you get into the sand, that's ten points, get the Frisbee in the air and land on your feet, that's fifty points. Remember, the points don't count. Le'go!" Jake yelled as Molly and Mike had a staring contest off to the right. Mike broke it when Jake started talking and Molly cheered loudly.

"Come on, shut up, lets go!" Jake yelled as he walked backwards, the others started running in the opposite direction. Jake chuckled before pulling his arm behind his right side, and launching it. He stood still as a rod, watching the Frisbee take flight towards his friends.

"Holy... go, it's all yours Mike!" Nate yelled, Mike ran more, his feet getting stuck in the sand as he tried to jump for it and stumbled onto his face, eating sand. He leaned on his arms and spat it out as the Frisbee landed inches away from his face.

"Now what happened there, mate? It was all yours. If I thought you were gonna womp it, I would've gone for it" Wesley said, his accent hugging his words. Mike climbed up and as he patted the sand off his clothes, he glared at him.

"You know, I'm starting to hate a certain Dutch boy who's here to visit" Mike pointed at him, jokingly. Wesley laughed.

"What? I didn't push you, I swear" Wesley said, putting his hands up as a defense.

"I know" Mike smiled towards him before they walked back over to position. The Frisbee was returned to Jake and launched once again. This time, it didn't go towards Mike and instead it went off towards the wave, Molly's area.

"It's all yours, girlie" Mike said, crossing his arms and watching her with a smug grin. She gave him a look that let him know she was unhappy and went to retrieve it, warily. She stopped at the smallest waves, feeling them crash against her legs. 'You can do this, you can do this' Molly said to herself, over and over. It wasn't that she was afraid of water, she wasn't. It was the sharks and the belief, since she was little, that they could lurk in even the smallest amount of water. It wasn't exactly a lie.

"Come on, Mol, go get it!" Jake yelled from his spot on the sand, Molly took a deep breath and started in for it. As she swam, it seemed that the Frisbee kept going out, farther and farther. Finally, as if taken forever, her hand landed on the Frisbee. She felt small, even though she could still