Peering out the window, I watched as we made our way to the section of the city where people no longer lived and the shops were empty as if everyone left in a hurry.
We arrived ten minutes before the trolley’s departure time. Although modern, the trolley car was designed like the historic ones of the past. Painted red on all sides with the characteristic gold-trim and grasping poles to use while standing garnished the outside, even though they weren’t functional. On the back of the car was the number 1 with Dining Trolley written underneath. It was probably twice the length of the other ones in the station. If I remembered correctly, forty of the original trolleys were still in operation, albeit with significant modifications.
Each group was allowed to choose their own seats once they boarded. Dylan, Gran, and I found one near the front to ensure we had an 180-degree view through the front and side windows. A waiter soon came around to ask each of us what we wanted to eat. The menu was very limited due to the fact that each meal had to be heated via the insta-oven, but I didn’t care. We each ordered burgers and fries, so the waiter moved on and eventually disappeared into a small section of the trolley at the rear.
The trolley took off and I glued my face to the window, ready to witness every moment of our tour. The tracks began to lead the trolley down into a nosedive, jerking the entire car as it plunged into the waters of old downtown.
Everyone made a yell of surprise when it hit the water, and didn’t seem to calm down until the trolley locked into the old rail lines and began moving through the water at a slow pace.
Outside, the whole atmosphere changed. All sorts of marine animals had made their homes on the outside of the buildings. Crabs scurried by on the algae covered ground and structures, with fish swimming by as if they were mimicking the people who once walked these streets.
“Look!” yelled a four or five-year-old boy sitting with his parents to my right. “It’s a shark!”
I craned my neck to see past the boy and his family to the shark swimming past a clothing store.
“Yeah, that’s a leopard shark,” matter-of-factly stated Dylan.
“Wow, that’s interesting. Do you know a lot about sharks, Dylan?” asked Gran.
“I wouldn’t say a lot, but I have an interest in marine species. I research information on them and watch immersion videos about them whenever I can. Leopard sharks are quite common along the San Francisco Bay region.”
“Looks like we have a shark expert aboard today,” announced the conductor of the trolley, a man who appeared to be in his mid-forties with auburn hair streaked in some places with gray.
Dylan merely smiled sheepishly.
“Hi, my name is Simon. I’ll be your conductor and tour guide for this evening. Your food will be arriving to you shortly. Until then, I’ll be pointing out landmarks and giving you interesting information on the old downtown of San Francisco.”
As if on cue, the waiter arrived with the food, starting at the back of the trolley and making her way to the front. When the three of us got our food, it looked to be tasty but wasn’t quite as good as I had expected when I bit into it. I didn’t care, though; this was more about the experience than the food.
“As I’m sure you all know, San Francisco was once an idyllic west coast major city well above ground. However, as the seas began to rise when most of the polar ice caps and coastal glaciers around the world melted into the sea, San Francisco’s waterline rose one hundred feet, causing the downtown street-level to be submersed in water.” The trolley went into a descent again and then up an underwater hill as he spoke.
“Due to the iconic nature of the trolley system, it was restored into an underwater experience to transport visitors through the lives of people at the turn of the millennium, when this area was still a booming metropolis.”
The conductor’s voice became slightly muted in my ears as the stores, shops, and homes that passed by in the background with all kinds of fish traveling leisurely past in the foreground transfixed me. Fish swarmed statues scattered through the downtown area that had become aggregation sites and feeding grounds. The dichotomy of it all fascinated me throughout the duration of the tour.
When the tour concluded at the end of the line, our hover car was waiting for us. Tired from our exhausting day, Gran and I dragged ourselves into the car. Dylan, still filled with boundless energy, hopped in and continued staring out the window at the trolleys.
Gran instructed the GPS to take us to her friend’s house where we’d be staying, then rested her head against the headrest.
“Thank you for taking us to the trolley cars,” Dylan said to Gran. “This day has been amazing.”
Gran chuckled slightly and replied. “You must not get out very much, do you? You’re acting like you’ve never been anywhere before.”
“I’m sorry, it’s just really fascinating. My parents never took me to these kinds of places cause they’re such workaholics. I’m really enjoying myself.” Dylan bounced in his seat like he had just eaten an entire pillowcase of Halloween candy. Glancing out the window of Gran’s car, Dylan’s face lit up in an expression of shock. “Tomorrow, can we go to the underwater tour of Alcatraz Island?”
I squinted out the window at the poster on the bulletin next to where our car was parked. It advertised underwater tours to Alcatraz Island for small groups leaving every three hours regularly from sunup to sundown.
“If Alexandria wants to go too, I’ll
