The Search Begins
Chapter 6: An Attitude of Gratitude
The story so far: Mattie’s mother, Awalix, has asked Mattie to help introduce a dolphin named Proprius to the wonders of the ocean world. She explains that since Proprius lives in a place surrounded by a net and since he does not have a tail like most dolphins, there will be some challenges in planning his adventure.
“Now that I have your attention,” Mattie said, “I want to tell you about a very important challenge that I promised my mother we would help her with. There is a dolphin where she lives that has not seen the undersea world in which we live. She would like us to help this dolphin get out of the place in which he stays so that we can introduce him to our world. There are a couple of problems though. This dolphin doesn’t have a tail! I mean, sometimes he has a tail and sometimes, he doesn’t.”
Poindexter and Kayote stared and stared at Mattie. “How can a dolphin have a tail and then not have a tail and then have a tail again? I mean, it just doesn’t make sense to have a tail some of the time but not all of the time.”
Poindexter just kept nodding his head letting Kayote do the talking.
“It is impossible for a dolphin not to have a tail isn’t it? A dolphin needs a tail to swim. How can he swim without a tail Mattie?” asked Kayote.
“You have to move on and stop asking questions about the tail, which by the way, are the WRONG questions. The right questions are, how can we help Proprius get past the net that keeps him locked in his area and out to the ocean and then how are we going to hide him so that a hard fish cannot find us?” Mattie’s mind wasn’t even waiting for a response from them right now. He started swimming and they worked to keep up with him.
Poindexter was the first to suggest something. “Mattie, you said here is a net that keeps him in the area. Does it have a hole in it like tuna fishing nets have so dolphins can escape? If it does, Proprius just has to find the hole. He swims through it and he is free.”
Kayote looked at Poindexter and laughed. “Why use the hole, when all he has to do is jump high to jump over it.”
“What? That is it, simple but also brilliant! Of course that is the answer. He will have to practice thought to make sure he can jump high enough.” Mattie clapped his fins and then they all started jumping to see who could jump the highest.
Now back in the joy of life again, Poindexter felt he should come up with another idea. “Well if he is going to practice jumping he should also practice breathing so that he can stay under the water long enough for us to get away from the hard fish that will come looking for him.”
Mattie stopped and looked at his friends. “I am sooo glad that I have you both as my friends. You have just solved the first part of this challenge. The second part of the challenge is to decide where we are going to take Proprius and what we are going to show him. We want to make his adventure really special but we have to remember he cannot be gone very long because of his tail and his energy level.”
“We also have to choose a game to play with him.” When Poindexter said that, both he and Mattie looked directly at Kayote.
“Alright, alright, how about teaching him our bubble game?” He suggested. With that decided unanimously, they headed towards Mattie’s mother.
She was so pleased to see all of them. She thought their idea would work but she told them it would take some time for Proprius to practice his jumps and build up his strength so that his jumps were high enough to clear the net. She explained she would help Proprius and would call them with her signature whistle when he was ready.
Time slowed down for the three friends to the point that they were watching the sunset each day hoping that just by watching it they could make it set faster. It was impossible to determine who was more excited about their challenge. Kayote wanted to choose the places to take Proprius while Poindexter wanted to choose all of the activities. The problem was, they could not go to all the areas or do all of the things they wanted to do even if they had many sunsets and sunrises to spend with Proprius.
In planning how they would spend their time with Proprius, the three of them realized just how rich their lives were. They thanked the Universe for their family and friendships, their lives, their world and the joy and peace that surrounded them.
Then the sound came, Awalix’s signature call. They had been waiting so long they weren’t actually sure they were really hearing it. They wondered if they had imagined it. This lasted only for a minute and then without a word they headed toward their ‘challenge’. Mattie sent his signature whistle letting his mother know they were on their way.
As they approached the place where Mattie’s mom and Proprius lived they could hear the noise from the humans as they clapped their fins and yelled. All three could feel their heart rates increase with their own excitement. They waited, close but not too close.
Then suddenly the noises disappeared. There was a hush. Then there was screaming.
Poindexter, Kayote and Mattie looked at each other wondering what it meant. The noises started again but took on a different tone, a louder and more awestruck sound. The clapping had stopped altogether. They watched and waited. They didn’t know what to expect but then they saw the dolphin. Proprius had surfaced and was looking for them.
The three of them rose out of the water together communicating to him through squeals, and clicks, and urging him forward towards them. Their energy mingled and grew as he raced towards them. When he reached them, they could hear Awalix’s call and encouragement. Without hesitation, all four took off.
Mattie was leading the way. Behind him Poindexter and Kayote immediately took up positions beside Proprius. They knew it would be easier if they followed in Mattie’s slipstream. Proprius would have used a great deal of energy already just getting to them.
When Mattie determined they were far enough away from Proprius’ home they stopped and rested. Kayote and Poindexter took the opportunity to look a little more closely at Proprius’ tail. They exchanged looks of disbelief for this was truly the strangest looking dolphin tail they had ever seen.
“Hi, I am so glad that you were able to join us Proprius,” welcomed Mattie.
Poindexter and Kayote were nodding in agreement, but their eyes were focused completely on the strange tail.
Mattie then said, “We are so excited to share our world with you. There are so many different things we would like to show you. There are the coral reefs and the kelp forest.”
“As well as all the different species of creatures that share this world with us,” added Kayote.
Not to be outdone, Pondexter said excitedly, “Plus there are so many games we could play.”
“What the three of us would like to know,” said Mattie, “is …..WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO AND SEE?”