The Search Begins
Chapter 3: Paying It Forward
The story so far: By surrounding the swimmers and slapping their fins against the water Mattie and his dolphin friends protect them from a great white shark. Only two of the swimmers and the dolphins are aware of the danger that lies beneath the ocean’s surface. If the shark wants to get to the swimmers it will have to attack the dolphins first. The dolphins know this, but are willing to risk their own lives to protect the swimmers.
Time passed. The crowds on the beach returned to their own activities. The excitement of watching dolphins going in a circle around the swimmers was no longer demanding their attention.
Captain John and Tim had been talking and joking and trying to keep the girl’s focused on the thrill of the experience. But the sound of so many dolphins slapping their fins was so loud they could no longer carry on a conversation. They tread water in silence for a few minutes and then something changed. The dolphins on the outer edge of the circle started to gradually break away and swim off in different directions.
The girls watched and understood they would soon have to pull on reserved stores of energy to be able to finish their swimming test. But Tim and Captain John were thinking something else entirely. They looked at each other and knew their protection was disappearing. Now what were they going to do? They had both seen the size of the shark and knew they could all die. Tim looked at Captain John and nodded to him. This silent signal meant that he would follow his lead.
“Well girls, looks like the party is coming to an end so let’s get ready for the final swim to the point. I know that you are tired but I have complete faith that you will get there. Slow and steady as we go and Tim and I will be your cheer leaders,” said Captain John.
There were just three dolphins circling them now; the one with the star being one of them. As if on cue, the three dolphins rose out of the water together and faced the swimmers. Using their tails, they propelled themselves backwards and away from the swimmers . They then jumped and flipped back into the water and sped away.
“Wow what a send-off!” shouted Karen.
While Captain John got the girls ready for the last segment of the swim, Tim dived down below to look for the shark. He looked in all directions. There was no shark. He broke the surface to take another deep breath of air and dived again. The shark was gone. When he came up for air he saw the girls had started swimming towards the point.
Tim caught up to the group and looked at Captain John. He shook his head. For the rest of the swim, Tim and Captain John took turns diving and checking with no sign of the shark. When everyone reached shore it was with great sighs of relief. The girls’sighs were from exhaustion but the sighs from Tim and Captain John were ones filled with relief that they had all made it alive and in one piece.
Meanwhile back in the ocean, a very different reaction was occurring.
“Mattie just what were you thinking?” blubbered Poindexter. “WE could have been eaten by that shark! Kayote did you see the size of that thing, did you see the teeth, there were two rows of them, two rows AND they could have cut us in half with one bite!” Poindexter was on a roll filled with the fear he had kept inside him till now. “Three of us could have fit in that shark’s stomach I am telling you!”
Even though Kayote was quivering and shaking on the inside he wouldn’t show his fear. In a calm voice he said, “Now, Poindexter, the shark would have had to eat his way through the other dolphins before he could have reached us. He was gone when we left. No shark could ever put up with the noise we were all making with our fins. We wore him out and he finally gave up. That is what we dolphins do. We protect each other! Remember one of our sayings, ‘FRIENDS FOR NO ADVANTAGE’. Awalix and Nicte-ha were always telling us that.”
At the mention of his mother’s name, Mattie’s mind went to thoughts of his beloved mother. He knew he had to go and see her again and remind himself that she was alright.
Mattie had spent the first three years within the safety of his pod. His mother, Awalix, was the leader. She was always close by, loving him and guiding him. After the Black Twirling Monster had spit him out, Mattie found himself bruised and shaken and completely alone for the first time in his young life. He had called out to his mother with his signature whistle but there was never a response. No matter how often he called to her as he floated on the waters, the sound of silence was all he heard.
This was a world that Mattie had never known. His mother was gone and so were his friends and pod. The anxiety and fear that enveloped him were new emotions. He did not like them. He had tried to swim away from these feelings but they were always with him. Finally, he had turned inward as his mother had always reminded him to do and listened to his intuition. His instincts told him he would find his mother, it was just a question of when. In accepting this, his anxieties and fears seemed to melt away.
Eventually, Mattie did find his mother and feelings of joy and relief had filled his heart. Seeing his mother always brought Mattie joy.
Occasionally, Mattie was reminded of the Black Twirling Monster time and how very alone he had felt. At these moments, he would need to revisit him mother to reassure himself that she was still there for him.
Mattie’s thoughts were interrupted by Poindexter. “Come on Mattie. Let’s have some fun! We haven’t played today.”
Mattie laughed. “Which game are we going to play?”
“I know,” piped up Kayote. “We will dive below and find something to play ‘pass’ with. I will start and when I drop it, someone has to grab it before it hits the bottom. Let’s go find something.” The three of them dived towards the bottom.
Kayote found it first. It was a small
fish that he grabbed in his mouth.
Then something strange happened. When Kayote opened his mouth, the fish was gone. In its place was a round ball with spikes on it that seemed to float away.
Poindexter swam as fast as he could to grab the weird ball before Mattie could get it. Poindexter loved games and this was getting more interesting and fun. Quickly Poindexter opened his mouth wide and captured the ball. He started to swim as fast as he could to get away from Kayote and Mattie. He wasn’t going to make this easy for them. He started turning and then spinning and then zigzagging…… then he stopped and seemed to just drop the ball fish. Mattie was right on his tail and grabbed the ball fish. He took off as fast as he could. Speeding away he glanced behind him. Kayote and Poindexter weren’t even following him. In fact, they were swimming in the strangest way. They were doing loops and twirls as if they were both lost in their own world.
The ball fish tasted awful so Mattie decided to spit it out. He felt different and it was hard to concentrate. He
didn’t know what was happening to him.
At a signal from Mattie all three headed to the surface.
Kayote tried to say something. Mattie wasn’t sure what he was saying because it came out ,” heeeeyyyyy,tt th hatttwassssssss funnnnnnn.” Poindexter then opened his mouth. “tttthhhe fishhhhhhhhh ssssssurrrre ttttastedddd bbbbaddddd.” Mattie’s mind was spinning…..wait a moment, he was spinning too and Poindexter kept falling on his back. Everything seemed to happening in slow motion.
SOMETHING WAS TERRIBLY WRONG!
To be continued Wednesday January 24. Next Time: A Very Unique Challenge