beastiality www

Hey everyone, this is my fifth story, fourth to be completed, and third to be on Beastforum.
It's 61 pages, enough words to be published. I must warn you NOT to try to read it all at once
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“So, what do you think?”
The realtor shut off the engine and the boat rode up and lodged itself on the sandy shore.
My wife, her long blonde hair flowing over her delicate shoulders, stood up and surveyed what was before her. The beach stretched a good ten miles north, disappearing in the distance in a bluish fog that you would only know there was beach when the lighthouse was turned on. In front of us sat a bluff overgrown with vegetation that shot skyward close to one hundred feet. On the top, a tuft of tall grass blocked our potential home. On the other side, the island curved in an optical illusion, making it appear that during its creation someone had snipped off the material going into the mold prematurely.

My wife turned around and her face lit up. Her hazel eyes looked at me gleefully through her bangs that fell over her rounded nose and gently caressed her full lips. “It’s perfect. What do you think, honey?”
I took another puff of my cigarette and crushed it between my fingers. My sunglasses blocked my disappointed eyes, but my grimace was highly noticeable; even my hair didn’t block that. “I think it’s too…wet.”
My wife looked back to the bluff. “Eh, who asked you?”
“I believe you did.” I said back to her, smiling.
She grinned wider, leaning over to kiss me. During all of this, the realtor waited patiently for us to stop our newlywed antics so she could begin her spiel.
“Well sir, I don’t believe you can say too much before you’ve even left the boat.” I knew this realtor did not like me. Ever since the beginning of the home shopping I bickered about each home’s flaw. In addition, we had actually known each other earlier in our lives and pretended that we didn’t now.
I scowled at her and stood up, stretching my back after the long boat ride. My wife was already on the beach, looking for the best way to reach the home.
She was wearing a white long sleeved shirt with tight black pants and sunglasses, giving her a look on the beach like Jennifer Lopez with Caucasian heritage. I imagined seeing her like this everyday, on the beach looking as ravishing as she looked now, and that made buying this house almost a wonderful idea.
My wife Aimee loved the water. She always talked wanting to take vacations to Los Angeles or South Padre Island to be near the ocean. Whenever she got the chance, Aimee would go with her family to lakes on vacation. She had even spent two days camping to be by a creek. It made me wonder why we had married, since we were so different. I HATED the water, and from growing up in Reno, I barely ever had the chance to see it. Aimee teased me about that, saying I preferred the cursing of a taxi driver to the sound of waves crashing. I didn’t contradict it, seeing as I actually did. Waves crashing on the shore were so monotonous and loud. Hearing a taxi driver shouting obscenities was useful in my job. If I heard a clever line, I chuckled, grabbing my notebook and writing it down for later.
I was a comedian, a stand up comic to be precise. No, I wasn’t a Bobcat Goldthwaite type, more of a smooth person, like Mitch Hedburg. I wasn’t like that in real life, I was much tenser.
Aimee acted on stage. She was most known for her role in ‘Wicked’ while at Broadway, which is where I first saw her. She had lived in Manhattan her entire life, having the Hudson River to sate her desires for the water. After seeing her onstage, I snuck back after the show with hopes of getting an autograph. Security guards threw me out. A few months later she was sent by her agent to an acting school, as acting demands were low and he suggested she keep up her talent. I was at the same school since I planned to act; she inspired me. I met her, we talked, I bought her a drink, and before I knew it, we were engaged. She claimed differences attract, which made out marriage over the past few months quite interesting.
“Sir,” the realtor woman said, “If you don’t mind, I have clients waiting back on land.”
I was in no hurry to leave the boat, especially since the realtor wanted me too. I pulled out another cigarette and reached for the lighter.
“I didn’t suggest you take us all the way out to Shangri-La.” I mumbled, lighting up.
“GREGORY, please!” Aimee moaned, looking embarrassed. “I’m so sorry. He just really hates the water” she said to the realtor woman.
“I figured that out at the pool party of ‘01” She said to me while Aimee walked ahead.
I continued to scowl at her as I ran to catch up with Aimee.

We followed a path leading from the beach to the top of the bluff. When we reached it, Aimee was overtaken by the view. I was apathetic. Sure, we were high up, but all you could see up there was one tiny cone island in the distance and water. Boring old water, ’water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink’ I believe the saying went.
Suddenly Aimee broke from her calm daze and grew excited. She pointed down at black figures leaping in and out of the water around the cone shaped island in the sea. “Look Gregory! Dolphins! There’s a whole pod of them out there!”
So what? It’s the ocean. I couldn’t believe how amazed she were that there were ocean dwelling creatures IN the ocean. However, I kept silent as not to spoil her cheerful mood.
The realtor chuckled softly. “I have a feeling you want to buy this house, Mrs. Shoemaker, even though you haven’t seen it yet.”
Aimee turned a noticeable pink. We both shared a laugh and the realtor woman led the two of us into the house arm-in-arm, you’re typical newlywed couple.
I did have to hand it to Aimee, the house was amazing. However, it had so many windows and sliding doors that it appeared to be made of glass, but it was rather cozy. Two bedrooms, a living/dining room, two bathrooms and a den made it livable even to my standards. While our realtor was giving her spiel, I grew more and more annoyed at the constant crash of the waves, even on a calm day like this. The house was fine but that noise was going to be a pain.
Immediately after she stopped talking, Aimee burst out with a “We’ll take it!” immediately followed by me doubting that. She took me aside.
“Gregory, this place is perfect, how can you not like it?”
“I know the house is amazing, but I don’t really like the smell and noise.”
Aimee snorted in disbelief. “You call the sea breeze a bad smell? Are you too used to car exhaust?”
“Look, I know you have your heart set on this place, but I’d be too far away from everyone else.”
Behind me, the realtor woman thought to herself ‘That’s good news for them.’ She broke into our conversation.
“Actually, there is a town on this island. It’s not as small and secluded as your think. I could show you later, or I’ll leave you with a map. Sure, the town is miniscule but it does have a population 2,000, according to the last census.”
Aimee looked back at me, smug that I didn’t have anyone to take my side. “You see?” she gloated, then turned to the realtor “We’d like a map, please.”
The realtor woman dug through her leather bag and pulled out a small roll of paper. ‘Miniscule my rear, this looks like Munchkin land!’
I did have to admit, though, the town did have enough to live comfortably. “There are several stores,” our realtor explained, pointing at places on the topography map, “and there’s a cargo ship that stops by every week with imports. I confess that the price is somewhat high on goods, but that’s the downside of paradise. They have restaurants, movie theaters, stages, even a comedy club.” I didn’t want to say so, but that was an upside! We could both work here and have an income. “They have shops, a strip mall, a bank, several parks” she noticed my wife’s protruding stomach and noticed that she was otherwise thin, and began to smile, “And there are three schools, all ages.”
Aimee grinned to both of us. Of course, typical me, I had to find a fault.
“But this is in the Gulf of Mexico, and don’t you remember how many hurricanes it gets?”
Aimee’s face fell. She hadn’t even considered the hurricanes and Tropical storms the region was likely to pull toward us.
“Actually, this island withstood Hurricane Katrina, Rita, and all of those devilish storms we had last year.” Our realtor informed us.
Aimee grinned again. Now she knew that the island was perfect. She even managed to convince me.
“What do you say, Gregory?”
I took off my sunglasses and looked over the map once again. This plot was prime real estate, so we should consider ourselves lucky.
“It’s perfect. We’ll take it.”
Aimee screamed in delight, wrapping her arms around me and planting a kiss on my lips.
***

Lucky for us, the house was much cheaper than it looked and we didn’t go bankrupt. Moreover, we were able to put our entire luggage onto the massive cargo ship that had been delivering its weekly imports. After waiting a month, we made it to our new house, a welcome change from the apartment we had lived in before. On moving day, after all of our boxes had been carried and most of our furniture had been arranged, Aimee and I sat on the loveseat, her head resting on my shoulder. We had had a long day and were both exhausted, moving around the furniture and making the incompetent movers hold the boxes right, seeing as they didn’t know what ‘This side up, Fragile’ meant.
Now we were by ourselves, alone in our new house. This was life. We both let out a sigh of contentment. We had already eaten dinner, a meager meal from the microwave, so what were we to do now? I think I had an idea, and that idea was-
“Let’s go down to the beach”
Not that.
I groaned at Aimee’s suggestion. “Come on, we have tomorrow to do that. Shouldn’t we, uh, get to bed?” I tried in vain to divert Aimee from her idea and drag her to mine.
She jumped out of my arms. “You have to be kidding me, ready to go to bed? It’s only 7:30! The sun’s just now setting.”
I looked at her, loving her but not her idea. “There’s no way you can make me go down there tonight, honey, I’m sorry.”
Aimee looked sad, and then I seemed to notice a light bulb going off in her head. She ran over and grabbed my notebook, the one I usually kept in my pocket. “I bet you’ll even jump off the bluff into the water to fetch THIS” she teased, switching hands as I tried to grab it. She bolted out of the door, me a few feet behind.
She had the advantage. In the setting sun, there was a glare in my vision, while Aimee had her sunglasses on. She ran right across the yard, dangerously close to the edge of the bluff (I made a mental note to put a fence there) and right down the steep path, kicking up dirt and gravel. She was calling teasingly to me as I shouted playfully back.
“‘I’ll gouge your freakin’ eyes out with an ice cream scoop’. Oohh, very funny!” She read from my pad.
“I will if you don’t get back here!”
“You’ve got to catch me first!”
“I shouldn’t have to!”
“You’re career’s about to get all wet, Gregory.”
I chased her for whole five hundred foot path until soon we were running on the beach. Down here, the crashing noise was monstrous, but I could still hear her giggling at me.
She stopped and turned to me, her smirk reaching the entire length of her face. I almost ran into her, toppling over as I screeched to a halt. Aimee laughed as I spat out a mouthful of sand, then I stood up.
“Could I have my notebook back now?” I asked wearily.
Aimee wrapped her arms around me again, pressing herself close to me. She leaned back, my arms around her, and with a smaller and politer smile, pulled the notebook out. “Of course.”
“I suppose we should get back ‘home’” I said, turning to leave. Aimee grabbed my arm.
“Gregory…look.” She pointed to the horizon. We didn’t even have to block our eyes because the coned island sat in front of the setting sun, eclipsing the bright light but not the beautiful pink, orange, and blue colors. Even a realistic fellow like me was entranced.
“It’s amazing.” I said out loud, tossing the notebook onto the sand.
“And romantic.” Aimee added, leaning her head on my shoulder. Instinctively I wrapped my arm around her. We sat down on the cold sand, propping myself on my elbows while Aimee rested against me. We both moved in for a kiss, so amazed by the wonderful sight that the kiss just came out. It was like a solar eclipse; we could see the sunset differently without the bright light like how you can see parts of the sun that was otherwise blocked by a glare.
Time passed and we watched the sunset as it welcomed us for the first night in our new home. We were watching the sunset, but something else was watching us. Aimee, who was much more sensitive to nature than I was, noticed it first.
“Honey, what it that?” She pointed out to the water, where a black figure sat motionless.
“It looks like a sharp rock, but why didn’t we see it before?”
The thing moved, shimmering in the moonlight. Aimee perked up.
“It’s a dolphin! Oh Gregory, there’s a dolphin less than ten feet away from us! Do you suppose it’s beached?”
My eyes strained in the fading light. The dolphin wasn’t struggling, but that could be a bad thing.
“I’m really not sure. Do you think it would swim off if we moved a bit closer?”
Aimee thought for a minute. Suddenly the dolphin spy hopped (raised its head from the water) and looked to us. Its whole body was glittering in the moonlight, but I noticed a smaller, different, and more hypnotizing shimmer, the beady eye of the dolphin. The dolphin opened its jaws and grinned to us, then let out an inviting whistle when its mouth closed. Aimee and I both stared at this creature, which appeared to have read our thoughts. The cetacean almost seemed to say with its whistle ‘No, I will stay here. You both have interested me and I am curious about you.’ Aimee stood up, eager to reach the dolphin, “I don’t think so.”
Slowly, just in case, we inched toward the dolphin. It sat silently gazing at us, still watching in case its inference proved wrong. Aimee reached the dolphin first; sitting on her knees, but was still four feet away. “She seems awfully relaxed to be near me.”
“How are you so sure it’s a ‘she’?” I said, five feet away from the dolphin, standing.
She motioned to its melon (a point might’ve frightened ‘her’) “Look, you see how her bottlenose and head smoothly connect?” She used easy scientific terms for me to understand, “If it were a male, its head would be much rounder and would stick out a bit farther. Plus, this dolphin is much smaller, a little over six and a half feet by my guess.” I sat down next to her. “Besides, she seems to have much more grace and beauty than her bulky male companions.”
“That last addition made you sound like that one group of feminists that talk to me after every blonde joke.” I said, smiling at my wife’s female pride.
The dolphin, whom I seemed to have forgotten about, uttered another whistle. We both turned our attention to her, while she sat looking back at us.
I had become focused suddenly on this dolphin. I don’t know why, since before dolphins only seemed to be on those corny ocean paintings that were everywhere nowadays. I hadn’t been interested in them at all since they seemed to me just another mammal. For some reason though, she had me mesmerized. It was as if I was in her grasp of intelligence (Aimee later told me she could feel the dolphin’s intelligence too) and she wouldn’t let me go. “Do you think she wouldn’t mind being touched? She seems confident that we mean no harm.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Health reasons.”
I was still bedazzled with this female cetacean. “Are you saying she could make us sick?”
Aimee shook her head. “I think it’s the other way around.”
The dolphin turned on her side, her pectoral flipper digging slightly into the sand. Later in the night, we both agreed it was her displaying her body to us. “Aw, she’s gorgeous.”
Yes, she was. I looked up and down the shimmering grey physique of this amazingly, stunningly beautiful dolphin. Perhaps it was her presence of grace that shown without her having to move. Maybe it was her toned shape under a sleek outer layer. Then my eyes fell to her genital slit. Yes, this was a female (Aimee was right, the little nerd), but I shouldn’t have reacted as I did. I found myself growing slightly aroused, like I was a male of her species who found her as a suitable mate. The dolphin noticed this, more like reading my mind than following my gaze, and to my surprise flexed once, not like a tease but understanding and respecting my secret urges.
“Gregory.” Aimee’s voice said from far off, “Gregory,” echoed her voice again.
“Gregory!”
I snapped to attention, realizing what I was doing. My face burned with embarrassment, my cheeks turning a noticeable pink.
“Gregory, what were you looking at?” Aimee said, not accusingly or intimidating. She wasn’t trying to make me uncomfortable, but it was hard to avoid. I stumbled over my own lie.
“I, I, I was just amazed. You were right, this dolphin is gorgeous.” Technically, I wasn’t lying but I didn’t mention I was looking at her genital slit.
“I know. Now do you think that dolphin’s are just your average sea mammals?”
“No, I guess not.” I felt relieved. Aimee knew what I was really looking at, but she was secure, not to mention polite. I’m sure she found it weird why I was ogling a dolphin and not some big-busted model at a restaurant.
The dolphin sat, watching us on her side. All three of us were quiet, and everything else would’ve been too without the crash of the waves. Each time I had a thought about her, the dolphin would turn to look at me. I don’t know how she did, but I was almost certain she could read what I was thinking. The dolphin seemed comfortable that I found her attractive, a blessing.
More time passed, and by now, the moon was high up. We needed to sleep, and the dolphin understood that despite the absence of such a thing in her world. Aimee stood up and addressed the dolphin, talking directly to it for the first time. “Come back and see us, ok? We won’t hurt you, promise. I enjoy having you around.” The dolphin spy hopped again (she had turned back on her underside long ago); cocking her head at the words she did not understand. I knew that she knew what the message was because of her ‘mind reading’ ability. I kept silent, not wanting to bring up anything Aimee might mistake as me showing my attraction to the female.
I felt humiliated that I did that, especially by my wife. I was no longer a bachelor and had no right to be judging other females, especially ones of a different species! So I merely stood up, a look on my face that shown neither happy nor sad feelings. I followed Aimee, putting my arm around her, to reassure her that she was mine only.
“Gregory, you’ve got to say goodbye to her too.”
I turned around and obliged to my wife’s request. “’Later.”
The dolphin was silent. The messages from Aimee and I were the same mentally to the dolphin, but they sounded so much different. She still seemed highly curious of us.
We resumed our walk up the path. Before the dolphin turned to swim off, she let out a loud squeal, waving her tail in the air to both of us when we looked back. Then she was off.
“That dolphin truly is amazing.” Aimee said, sighing.
“Big deal. I‘ve done the same thing to you before.”
Aimee looked annoyed, but merely sighed again and kissed me. “Try not to dwell in the city too much.”
* * *
When we got back to the house, Aimee let me show her my idea since she had hers by default. In the back bedroom the only thing we had had been some boxes and a mattress with a few blankets, but that did not stop us. Both my wife and I were stripped naked, and I was on top. There was holding, kissing, fondling, you name it. Moving had been stressful and this was a great way to release all of the tension. Aimee moaned loudly as I entered her, something that was an upside. We lived far enough away from everyone else that we could be as loud as we wanted without anyone hearing our sound (but the crashing waves blocked it out too). I grunted and started to thrust, feeling the warmth around my member. Aimee pressed back against me, her arms wrapped around my back. We were panting and moaning, tossing and turning on the mattress. I could feel myself about to come and quickened my pace. Aimee started to shake even more, quivering at her pre-orgasm.
We both reached our climax. Suddenly, as I came, the mental picture of the dolphin’s genital slit flashed in my mind and mixed with my ejaculation. I yelped in surprise when this picture came up, but it was replaced by Aimee’s orgasmic sounds.
I didn’t share her pleasure: I was disturbed. Was it just coincidence that this image jammed into my brain during my climax or did I run out of mental energy to keep it in my subconscious? I whimpered a bit, feeling a weird feeling inside of me. I had forgotten that I had just had sex with my wife. I rolled off her, and she noticed for the first time I was shaking.
“Gregory, what’s wrong?”
I didn’t answer at first. “I, well, I” I rubbed my forehead to get rid of the sweat, “Let’s just say that was the most awkward thing I’ve ever cummed to”
At first Aimee gave me an offended look, thinking it was about her. Then she saw that it was something else. “What was it?”
No, I couldn’t tell her that I just got off to that female dolphin. “Rocco just got hit by a car.”
Aimee smiled and started to giggle. I suppose with how I made it sound, it seemed like I had underdone the ‘awkward’ factor. I should’ve been thinking about my wife’s cunt, but what she thought I was thinking of was my drunken friend when he ran into the street and broke his spinal column. Her giggles were so infectious that even I started to giggle, at the end both of us laughing uproariously.
Maybe living by the sea wasn’t so bad. We didn’t have the drug dealer below us shouting to be quiet or the landlady delivering complaints, but with the waves we did still have the noisy neighbors.
***
***
After our wild laughter had died down, my wife and I cuddled warmly, wanting to start our new life on a high note.
Eventually Aimee fell asleep, seeing as she was more exhausted than she led on. Despite being worn out as well, I still couldn’t sleep. An ashamed erection popped up as I began to think about that dolphin.
Had she seduced me? Was that why I was so mesmerized down at the beach? For that matter, was there any other answer?
Yes, the dolphin apparently seduced me. Right after she had me hypnotized she started showing herself off. I had felt that this dolphin had a similar feeling for me; otherwise her actions would’ve been more taunting when she saw me gazing. I know that this sounds awfully inapt for someone as down-to-earth as me, but it was like love at first sight.
But I didn’t want to think about it. I sat naked at the edge of the mattress, my legs stretched out in front of me. As long as I was up, I’d better make some coffee. I placed on my robe and stumbled out into the hallway, then into the bulk of the house.
We had set up all necessities; couches, tables, chairs, and dishes, but left out the appliances. I opened up one of the boxes lying around and pulled out our coffee maker. As worn out as it was, it still made the best damn coffee you could get without going to Starbucks. There was a pouch already in the box, which was beyond me why it was present there. I plugged in the machine, did all of the usual steps that were a habit for me, like a show dolphin who had been at the aquarium for ages.
See, dolphins again! Dammit Gregory, stop being such a pervert!
I watched the coffee fill the pot, imagining that it was the only thing in the world to avoid thinking about the dolphin.
After waiting some time, the drizzle of coffee slowed its pace until finally dripped to a halt. Without adding crème or sugar, I drank the coffee straight from the pot.
That’s some great java, I thought to myself, gathering my senses and pouring it into a cracked mug. Nice, strong, and steamy, just the way I like it. There was an armchair in front of our sliding door facing our backyard, or the ocean. I sat back and looked. Outside, past the tall grass growing before the bluff’s edge, sat the Gulf of Mexico. There was no land out of this side, except for the conical island (’Coney Island’ that would flatter Aimee). There was nothing that way until you reached Texas, west from the island. The real land was north, in Louisiana. From the ’premature’ side of the island, I’ve heard, you can see a bit of the land during a clear day. When we were shown the house, our realtor had to steer us around the coned island due to the riptides and choppy waves that ran parallel to the beach. We had to go straight into them or else we could’ve tipped over, and I wasn’t much of a swimmer.
Regardless of the choppy waves, the sea actually looked peaceful, illuminated by the moon. In my present state, I would’ve enjoyed it because I couldn’t see it the same way. However, your Reno-born callous city dweller merely became annoyed at how the only light out there was natural.
I sighed, sipping the coffee. Perhaps I would have a chance the next day (oops, my mistake, technically it was morning while I was sitting there) at getting a gig in the comedy club. I reached for my notebook, looking over my material and straining to put them into jokes and anecdotes. I ripped out a few pages of what I thought was suitable stuff. What did the people of the island find funny? I hadn’t been told, but was this town full of Americans or some modern tribe?
It’s a lovely night out, why don’t you read this outside. My inner voice told me.
No way, I did not just think that. The grass outside is rustling quite a bit. We have a westward wind coming in, bending the grass to the bluff’s edge, threatening to blow it off the cliff.
Who cares about the wind? The night itself is perfect. Just go out there. Doesn’t a sea breeze encourage creative thinking?
I sighed, not wanting to give into my conscience. Maybe I had made that coffee a little too strong. Nevertheless, I went out on the deck with my papers.
Instantly, as if there were pranksters timing my arrival, a sudden strong gust, powerful than the last, blew the papers out of my hand. They looped in the air, teasingly, as I chased. As I got closer, the wind continued to toy with me, and blew just strong enough to keep my papers away. Suddenly, they looped back, causing some to smack into my face. I seized the papers, happy that I had beat ‘mother nature’ at her own silly game.
Oops, not quite! One was still in the air! If I move fast enough, I could-
Nope. It fell over the edge of the bluff, no longer grasped by the wind. I watched it in anguish, knowing that I didn’t remember all the things I had had on that page. The paper was caught in the high pressure of being near sea level and started to zigzag this was and that. I considered Aimee’s inference that I would jump off the bluff to retrieve my things.
Much to my dismay, the paper landed right into the water. With an extra spring in my step, I ran through the vegetation of the path (cutting myself on many occasions in the dark) and stumbled, cut and bleeding, onto the shore. I couldn’t see the paper at all, but knew I was going to have to retrieve it. Seeing as I was naked under my robe, I threw it off and ran to the waters edge, planning to jump in.
I found I wouldn’t have to. It was floating in the shallows, where the water was only shoulder depth. I could just walk in, float up, and grab it.
Then I remembered what we had been told; ’Never go into the water that is between the cone island and the main island, or even five hundred meters either way. There are strong undertows and riptides in the area. It looks calm on top but under the surface is death waiting to happen.’
So much for that idea. I figured I could still read it since I wrote in waterproof ink, but the waters were too turbulent. I sat down, naked, at the water’s edge. The waves lapped at my feet, almost as if saying ’You can’t touch much of us, but we can touch all of you’.
Stupid water, I thought as I kicked a miniature wave away, you don’t serve any purpose. You can’t be drank, and if you didn’t exist we’d have more room to built big cities. I don’t recall ever feeling THAT callous toward the ocean before.
Maybe that gig could wait for another day.
Through the waves, I could hear something else, like white noise, moving through the water. I looked up and saw something eyeing my paper, something with a dorsal fin, and gorgeous shimmering body.
Oh no, she’s back again.
I did not acknowledge this dolphin, but merely thinking of her was enough. She turned and pretended as if she had just seen me, greeting my presence with a light chorus of clicks and squeals. Then, she moved her snout to my paper.
‘You stupid dolphin‘, I thought, not caring that she could hear me, ‘that is an important paper. I know I can’t get it now but you shouldn’t be hoping to destroy it!’
Hearing the outburst, she bucked her head to look at me with hurt eyes. ‘So what, go ahead and feel offended. You’re immune to riptides and undertows! The only way you can drown is a net or by just not breathing‘.
I did confess that my coldhearted attitude was painful on my part too, and I turned my head from her gaze.
‘I’m sorry. It’s not you’re fault, you’re just curious. I shouldn’t have been outside during this gale.’
I looked back at her, the same bitter look fierce in my eyes. I wanted to say those words, and was about to. What she did next, however, had me speechless.
Slowly, with utmost delicacy, the dolphin situated her snout under my floating paper. Keeping the same grace and gentle movements she had before, the dolphin spy hopped. The paper went limp, wrapping around her snout but she wouldn’t allow it to tear. With her head above the waves, she thrust her tail in one smooth stroke, and was instantly a foot away from me up on the beach, letting out a triumphant squeal that she had the paper in mint (same as it was when she first saw it, at least) condition.
I had snapped out of my trance that she had me under again, and I took the paper from her snout. Resting her head down, she stared up at me with her twinkling black eye. For some reason, she didn’t entice me this time. It seemed that once she charmed me, I was immune for a short time after the spell was broken.
She noticed this and resorted to plan B: Get my attention the old-fashioned way. I had been looking over the paper, and I was astonished that she had been so careful as to not cause a single rip or bleeding of ink. The dolphin uttered her trademark whistle, and I couldn’t help but do what she wanted. We sat there, gazing at each other without moving.
Then I went back to my paper; studying it in hopes that I could have it down if it did end up being destroyed. Still, the dolphin stared at me with her glistening eyes; eyes like massive craters that sound and air get lost in. These very eyes bore into me, almost digging through me, exploring my insides. I tried my best to concentrate, but the present feeling of being watched disturbed me. The dolphin’s beady eyes continued to pierce into me, moving deeper and deeper, until she struck a nerve (pardon the pun).
“Ok, will quit undressing me with your eyes and tell me why you’re here!?!”
The cetacean was taken aback.
“Uh, I mean, argh, I’m sorry.” I felt like a moron. First, this dolphin couldn’t tell me why she was here, and she couldn’t undress me with her eyes because I was already naked.
Then I noticed that the dolphin looked awfully far out of the water, her tail trying in vain to shake her from the shore. “Oh, I see. Why didn’t you just say so?”
I stood over her and placed one hand beneath her, the other one on the opposite side of her pectoral fin, and with a loud groan, I pushed the dolphin back into her watery home. Maybe now she would swim off and I could go back to my house.
To my amazement, she just turned over (the whole time she had been on her side) and continued to silently watch me.
What was I missing? She had spent almost an hour staring at me and Aimee while we communicated between each other, and showered her with attention. Oh, of course, where are my manners?
“Thank you for bringing my paper back to me, especially in this condition.” The dolphin looked proud of herself and spy hopped, beaming at me with her open jaws. Then she fell back to her owl-like watch.
Alright, I had to figure something out. There were only two reasons why, I could figure, that she was here. First: She was beached and couldn’t move, which I fixed. Two: She was waiting to hear that her work was appreciated, and I assured her that it was. Why would she stay here? She had more than fulfilled her curiosity in us, so why was she so attracted to me?
Then she turned on her side, and with the full sea moon shinning almost directly on her, I saw that her underside wasn’t as reflective as usual. Her shimmer had dimmed to a blunt glow. I couldn’t see white but I couldn’t see any other color. What could it be?
Pink. Of course. That’s why she was here. Think about it Gregory, you weren’t interested in her, SHE was interested in YOU! She had you under her little love spell and you thought it was coming from you. She wants you, Gregory! And I think after what she did, you owe her.
But that wasn’t it. It wasn’t like the sex was a thank-you, she wants me because she wants ME. Not just pleasure, not just company, not just being close, she wants ME. Love at first sight, I guess it was true.
I didn’t feel like I loved her. True, I was attracted, but I wasn’t IN love with her, especially since I didn’t really know her.
Only more of a reason to get to know her. You might enjoy yourself.
Slowly, ignoring what Aimee had warned me, I reached my hand out. The dolphin kept a close watch on me but didn’t show any indication of being afraid. In fact, she even drifted closer as I moved my hand towards her gleaming silver side. Leisurely, tenderly, I rubbed over her body. Instantly her mood changed from casual and horny to relaxed, and horny. The loud ‘whoosh, chuff!’ of her inhaling and exhaling turned into what sounded like a content sigh.
I was enjoying myself too. Her body was so sleek that my hand almost glided across, like how she did in the ocean. Though it had a rubbery feel to it, and was marked with tough scars, she felt pleasing to pet.
Gradually she began to flip herself over, exposing her pink underside. I began to caress her warm underbody, feeling her heart beating as it pumped blood to the surface, giving her the pinkness. My hand swept over her, first just small strokes that overlapped and grew to go nearly the entire length of her body. In no time I was at her genital slit, and without thinking, began to rub in just that spot. The dolphin squirmed under my hand, uttering a small squeal that sounded much like a moan. I began to focus the rubbing on one particular area, because out of the foot of slit she had, only about four or five inches seemed to give her a large amount of pleasure. Later I learned that the slit was really her anus and vagina and the long slit was just an illusion. As the dolphin squeaked and clicked, I slowly began to apply pressure to her vaginal slit. The dolphin didn’t want the suspense and sped things along, thrusting her tail and engulfing my finger. Responding on impulse, I forced my finger in and out, keeping all of the movement at my knuckle. The dolphin’s head slapped the surface of the water unconsciously while her mouth yawned at the intense delight this experience was obviously giving her. To me, I was just getting a hard-on.
To my wonder, the dolphin let herself drift away from my hand. I figured she was just playing with me, but the look in her eyes shown of seriousness. It felt like she was saying ’That is enough foreplay for now, we should get on with it’. I, however, refused. If I was going to be in the water, I didn’t want to worry about any undertows.
The dolphin was curious as to why I wasn’t following her in like she wanted me to, and raised up her head, disappointment in her eyes.
“Don’t be worried. We still will make love, but we need to move first.”
Did I say ’make love’? Yeah, right! I still didn’t feel the love necessary to not make it just sex. The dolphin understood that I couldn’t mate with her in this part of the water, so I stood up as she turned over. I began to walk to the part of the beach that curved into what looked like nothing, but was really a long stretch of shore. This would be the perfect place in case Aimee did come down. There wasn’t a chance she would check here.
As I walked, the dolphin zigzagged through the surf, either pursuing a fish or just getting excited. As I watched her dorsal fin twist and turn, moving away and toward me and bolting every direction, I began to smile a bit. Out about twenty feet, I suddenly saw a glimmer and realized she had spy-hopped to look at me. Then she submerged and I saw her fin flash through the wave, occasionally disappearing below the water. After that she submerged again, closer, and I saw her grinning to me and whistling excitedly. “Aaaaerrroooorp! Whee-eek!”
My smile grew wider. Maybe it was just because of how innocent she seemed or how giddy this whole experience was making her, but I found myself actually growing drawn to her. When she jumped out of the water about a foot, I even started to laugh. After all of that, though, she calmed down and swam close to my feet as I walked through the waves as they crashed on shore, looking up at me with her seductive eyes.
We found a spot where the water was much more calm, and I laid on my back with the water reaching over my body. The dolphin was swimming in circles a few feet out, hoping maybe we could move to a spot where we would be underwater, but I couldn’t have done that. She swam up to where I was laying, with enough water to float, and impulsively put her flippers around me, to see how I would react. I had to lift my side a bit so her flipper could fit beneath me. As I stared into her eyes, I could feel her seductive enchantment start to work up. The part of me that was still conscious began to curse that I had fallen for this again. I hated how she would charm me and leave me without any real thought of my own.
The dolphin, who I guess was reading my thoughts, suddenly stopped, looking at me without her ‘spell’ in effect.
That’s when I realized something. This dolphin was using the same technique she used on males of her species, however now she realized that with humans it is different. Moreover, she seemed to respect my right of free thinking. Perhaps that was why before she was directing her playful attitude as I was walking. I had her in the mood for sex, my mood, so she helped give me love, her mood.
I still felt an attraction, like I was still being seduced. But she wasn’t giving me the feeling, I was. When she was playing in the surf and I was smiling, she was giving me a reason to grow attached to her. It’s a bit hard to explain, but I know in my present state what it means.
The dolphin looked at me inquiringly, almost as if asking if I still wanted to go through with this. I answered by wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close to me. Yes, I would still ‘make love’ to her.
Time had passed between the rubbing and now, and as we lay in the shallow, me pressed against her and both of us intertwined, her pink had vanished. So, I stepped in and did my duty as her mate, I helped her get back in the mood. One of my arms moved from her side and began to rub up and down her metallic white belly. Difficulty grew as she started to press against me and restraining my hand from flowing freely across her rubbery flesh. Gently but firmly, I used my other hand to make her drift away a bit. She understood that if I was going to keep rubbing her she would have to give me hand some space, and I could see it in her expression. As I continued to rub, she squirmed in my hold at the feeling. Pressing had always been how her species responded to a caress, and I think at that point she didn’t know how to react. I felt a patch of warmth down by my privates, and as I looked I saw the dolphin’s genital slit wasn’t gleaming anymore. She was in the horny, but I still didn’t feel like she was in the mood. I’d better double check.
I moved my hand down her underside and stopped when I felt a tough fold of skin, her vaginal slit. Before the dolphin could respond, I pressed against the folds and split them open slightly, allowing my fingertip to press into her warm interior.
The dolphin, who before was squirming, stopped. Her eyes stared into mine and her jaw gaped, while her tail rose up between my legs and was behind me. Between my legs, I could feel her tail trembling, as was her beak. I continued to stimulate her and I used my other hand to rub her gaping jaws. There was no denying it; she was in total bliss.
By now my dick was rock hard, and I knew that she was in the mood completely. I removed my hand from her vagina and put my other hand around her once again, pulling her as close as we were before. With my free hand, I guided my penis to her warming slit. The dolphin wasn’t one for suspense and teasing, for as soon as I touched her folds with the tip of my cock, she tensed up and thrust me in.
Now it was my turn to stiffen up. Inside was warm and wet, warm from her body and wet from the sea water. Aside from that, her sleek vaginal walls were tight around my member, but like her body were smooth and frictionless. Before I had anytime to start thrusting, she used her vaginal muscles to press on the head of my cock, triggering me to tense up and moan. No woman I had ever been with had given me such pleasure on the insides! I began to thrust into my dolphin mate, each time pausing for a split second before I pulled out. Each time I paused, she used her marvelous vaginal muscles to stimulate me and her at the same time. It went like this ‘In-pause-rub-out-pause-rub-in-pause-rub-out-pause-rub’, and the sexual pleasure never ceased for an instant. In almost no time the dolphin was reaching her orgasm and began to thrust back against me as I quickened my pace. We were both displaying at how much we were enjoying the experience; I was panting and moaning while the dolphin bobbed her head and would occasionally squeal. With just a few more thrusts we both came, me shooting my load into her warm slit. The dolphin tossed her head back as we both came, pressing our bodies as close as they’d ever been.
The dolphin had her eyes and snout closed, merely pressed up close to me and shuddered. With her underside flushed with warm pink and the wind-chill dropping the temperature a few degrees, her body felt really great against mine.
My dick went limp and I pulled out of her as the muscles inside gave me one final squeeze. I was catching my breath while the female merely began to chuff more frequent. The dolphin finally opened her eyes and stopped shuddering, looking at me with a far-off dreamy look. I splashed one hand into the water and began to rub her above water side, dampening it and bringing back the beautiful shimmer of her moist skin. Once she was wet enough again, I began to rub all over. The dolphin nestled against me while I stroked her form in every reachable spot. She replicated my actions by rubbing me back with her tail or flippers, intermittently with her beak. The warmth and silkiness of her body against mine was astonishing, and I couldn’t help but shake a bit.
Minutes passed as we laid there, caressing the other in our afterglow. What happened next was mere instinct at the time but now seemed only appropriate. I moved my face close to the dolphin’s beak and planted a kiss on the tip. The dolphin didn’t try to resist, and actually moved her ‘head’ closer to mine so I could kiss her easier. At the tip of her ‘rostrum’, as it was later named, the skin was very thin and tough, and with just the slight amount of pressure I could feel dozens of coned teeth. We held that kiss for a few moments, with her rubbing her rostrum against my lips but not as in a struggle. Simultaneously we broke off, and she wiggled from my grasp. I sat up and stretched while she swam in front of me a few feet out. From side to side she swam, finally stopping to look at me curiously. She was trying to coax me in.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m not really into that.” I spoke to the dolphin as if she were human. She cocked her head, confused. “Well, I grew up in an area like this” I pointed to the sand, “except it was everywhere. What you’re in,” I pointed to the water, “didn’t really even exist where I was at. So, I can’t swim, sorry.”
Still, she looked at me puzzled. Slowly she moved to where my feet where and began to nibble my toes, still showing the same delicacy she had with my paper. I could tell that she really wanted me in the water. “Look, it’s not like I don’t WANT to be with you, I just can’t swim.” She looked up at me and stopped nibbling, trying to think of a way to get me out into the water. Realizing it was useless to argue, I stood up and waded into the ocean, straining not to be pushed over by a wave. Lucky for me, the wind was going parallel to the shore this way so the waves weren’t as bad. Soon we were out in deeper waters, and fortunately for me I at least knew how to tread water.
The female swam in circles around me, soon going fast enough to spin me in her wake. This, obviously, threw off my treading and immediately I began to sink. As the murky ocean swallowed me up, I recognized a familiar shimmer as something shot beneath me. As soon as I had began to sink, I was back at the surface, gasping for air merely out of surprise. The dolphin, who had her head between my legs so she could support me, gently flipped to the side and I was off, treading water again. Like déjà vu’, she began to swim around me once again, and sure enough I sank. This time, however, the dolphin seemed content to let me sink farther before going to retrieve me.
She repeated this process again and again, each time letting me sink deeper and deeper. Soon I was underwater and vainly trying to swim for at least thirty seconds (my lung capacity was horrible). Once she had retrieved me that time, I grew angry and started to make my way to the shore. I don’t think the dolphin realized she had gone too far until I did this, for she bumped me in the small of my back. I floated around, and saw her gazing up at me, her eyes showing that she felt bad for angering me and asking me to forgive her. My fury calmed down and I put an arm around her as she floated. Now my hands were free and I didn’t have to tread water, so I could stroke my mate some more.
“It’s okay, my love, it’s okay. I really can’t stay angry at you. Just don’t try anything like that again, alright?”
The dolphin’s glimmering black eye spoke that she was relieved I wasn’t angry, and agreed that she would be easier on me. She moved from under my grasp and submerged her head, swimming around me slowly in a circle, pressing her body to mine and thrusting her pelvis each time her genital slit passed my penis.
The questions I had felt earlier began to seep back into my conscious. Why was she here? What had Aimee and I done to make her so interested in us? ’I need some answers’ I spoke to her through my mind, hoping she would hear me, ’how can I find the answers to these questions?’.
Suddenly the dolphin grew agitated, and in a flash ducked below the waves. In the frenzy of the ripples created by her tail, I failed to notice anything until I felt a hard pound of sharp pain hit my heel. With a scream in pain and surprise, I felt the cool ocean water sting at my heel. There was blood around me, and I realized what had happened. The dolphin had turned violent and bit me on my foot. I couldn’t see where she was now, but knew it was useless to try to fight off an aggressive dolphin. I curled into a ball and anticipated more blows. Surely she would batter me with her tail and butt me with her head, but that was inevitable. There was no doubt that she was about to kill me. I recalled how great the time had been with her but she merely saw me as food that she could mate with before killing. I would miss Aimee, and the new house, and my unborn offspring. I would miss so much, but there was nothing I could do.
I waited for a few moments, but the pain never came. There was no butting, no ramming, no biting, no nothing. The water had calmed down and all that I could feel was the throbbing in my heel and the waves rocking me toward the shore. I uncurled myself and looked up to see the dolphin sitting a few feet out. Her head was mostly submerged, but I could see she was watching me. Without another motion, she dove under and swam away from me.
The expression in her eyes, what was it? Sadness? Guilt? Maybe it was something else. I didn’t want to think about it, my blood could attract sharks.
I crawled up onto the shore, now the only sign of life on the beach. Each time I took a step a flash of pain shot up the back of my leg, giving me a noticeable limp.
Stupid dolphin. Talk about one night stands!
I hobbled back across the beach, far from the waves, and turned around the corner, praying not to see Aimee. Luckily all that was left was my robe and paper which had managed to stay put. I placed my robe on, snatched my paper, and stumbled up the path to the house.
The clock on the wall illuminated the room, displaying that I had been down there with my dolphin ‘mate’ for an hour and a half. Maybe Aimee wouldn’t notice me.
As not to wake her, I scrubbed of the sea water using a wet rag. It was a fair job, but it sure beat having to use the shower. I bandaged up my love bite (I chuckled when I thought this) that had long since scabbed over. Before I had placed the bandage on, however, I noticed that the area around it was turning a different color, and was starting to dry up. The color could be from a bruise perhaps (dolphins can bite awfully hard), but with the humidity of the island I couldn’t describe why the area was starting to flake. I figured that all I needed was rest.
Despite the roaring waves beneath us, I was able to fall asleep in a few seconds.

***
A groan drifted down the hallway as I stood in the kitchen, preparing coffee. It was my lovely wife Aimee, who in the mornings is about lesser so lovely. Hopefully some coffee would calm her; I sure needed some.
Yes, I was nervous about going into town. Not about getting lost, the town was fairly small and with only one street. It was because I had no idea what the people of the island found funny. Though the house’s price was relatively low, we would still need some income right away!
There was something else, however, that was even worse than riding into town. When I woke up and examined my heel, the splotch had grown and was turning a strange silvery color, something that obviously wasn’t a bruise. Somehow the blotch covered all of my foot and had mysteriously moved to my forearm as well. Like before, the skin was unusually dry despite the intense humidity. With some lotion the dryness had retreated slightly but still made me nervous. Plus, I was feeling some horrible back pains…
“Good morning!” I said, trying to sound cheery as Aimee loafed into the main room. She sat down at the counter, directly across where I was preparing the coffee. To my great and utter surprise, she was smiling. “So, how’d you sleep?”
Aimee yawned and looked up at me, “Like a rock. What about you?”
I thought of a way out of this, but thought it would be best not to lie to my wife. “Like a twig on the water.”
Aimee looked blankly, so I grinned and added “I wouldn’t stay down.”
With great interest my wife looked up at me. “So, what did you do?”
Well, there was no avoiding that question. I went on to tell her about how I had lost my paper, how the dolphin had retrieved it, me petting her, and moving to the other side of the island to swim with her.
“Then, she suddenly grew violent, and bit me on my heel. Trust me, you don’t want to look. Well, I thought I was about to be killed, so I curled up to defend myself. When nothing happened I looked up and saw her there, watching me with….some sort of expression I can‘t quite identify.”
Aimee was staring at me wide-eyed. I had left out any ‘playing’ and of course the sex, but the rest was word for word like how I told you. “She allows contact? I wondered why I could sit so close.”
Forget that damn dolphin, I thought, I just got one nasty and curious bite!
“You should go down and see her, I have a hard time believing she was trying to hurt you.”
Well, she was! You can’t bite and draw blood ‘playfully’.
“No thanks. I really need to go into town. I want to see if I can land a gig at the comedy club. What are you going to be doing?”
Aimee shrugged, sipping her coffee. “I was thinking maybe unpacking a little bit, going down and seeing if I could find that dolphin. Perhaps later I’ll go into town too and see if I can get an audition at the theater. I would go now, but it’s way too humid.”
“Yeah, all you have to do is give the air a good squeeze and then you have all the bathwater you need. Have you seen our water bill already?”
I took a sip of my coffee, almost regurgitating when I swallowed a mouthful. As I started to hack up the remainder, Aimee watched in horror.
“Gregory, are you ok? Are you choking?” She got up and dashed around to where I was, doubled over behind the counter. She began to bang on my back, trying to force me to cough up the remaining coffee. My neck’s veins were throbbing and visible, while my face was turning dark red. Aimee began to pound harder and harder until I vomited up the coffee I had swallowed. I collapsed on the floor, gasping for air and shaking violently. Aimee got down next to me, and started to rub my back. Suddenly, she stopped, and I felt her go over a lumpish thing on my back. She continued to move her hand over the tough raised spot. Another thing caught her eye and she began to rub the back of my neck. “Honey, there’s a sore on the back of you’re neck. I think it’s bruised.”
Between gasps, I asked her why.
“It’s a weird color, a bit greenish but grey too. What do you think it is?”
I tensed up. More of the bizarre spots! I stood up, Aimee giving me a worried look. “Maybe we should get you to a doctor.”
I shook her off. “No, I think it must be an allergic reaction.”
Aimee stared at me, not daring to believe what I was saying. “Are you crazy? An allergic reaction? There is something wrong with you!”
I shook my head again. “I just really need to get into town. I’m sorry I can’t be here to help you unpack.”
Aimee sighed, “That’s okay, you’d better get to town.”
She started to turn from me, and I grabbed her arm. “Aimee, I’m sorry.”
She smiled sadly and moved close to me, wrapping her arms around me but avoiding the lump. We kissed, then pressed our foreheads together, our noses touching. This was a semi-Eskimo kiss that we had made up, and it was our own personal way of apologizing, taking place of kissing and making up. We held the pose before breaking off. I did have to go into town right away. I went outside into the humid air, the ocean behind me. As I grabbed my bike (we had to sell the car to help pay for our house) I waved back to Aimee. She smiled and waved back to me, already opening a box.
I had no idea that would be the last interaction we would have before the strange events unfolded.
***

The air outside was humid and heavy, like I was swimming through water rather than biking through air.
The road leading to our house is about five miles long before you reach the hill. It is all gravel until you reach a bridge, that really doesn’t go over anything. After that the road is paved and you begin to slowly go downhill, reaching the town that is thirty feet below sea-level. On the other side of the town there is another hill, leading to a national park. From what I’ve heard, this park doesn’t get many visitors.
There was grass and some plants, a bit of wildlife occasionally, but other than that it just seemed to me like a big, huge, gigantic, stretch of nothing. As I rode, I thought over my sketch and what things might appeal to the people of this island.
As I sloped downhill, I noticed that there were more blotches on my skin, now with spots on my hands and one covered most of my arm. When they would first appear the blotches were greenish red, but eventually grew gray and were incredible dry and cracking. I admit that no matter how much I tried to deny it, there was something wrong with me and I was scared. Why did these spots only begin to appear after I was bitten? What was this sore on the back of my neck and growing lump on my back?
The town grew in front of me, going from the size of a distant shape to, well, the size of a town.
The comedy club was a run down building, about two stories high. There was plenty to be desired compared to the ones I had seen before. On the front hung a dilapidated sign, proclaiming the name “Cajun Comedy Club (CCC)” followed by it’s much more clever sub-line, “Why not Bayou-self a ticket?”.
I chained my bike to an old street pole, maybe as old as this island, and walked inside. At the desk sat a woman fanning herself with a paper. Around that time I realized that without the humidity this island was rather hot. I was sweating maybe as bad as she was, but I wasn’t bothered. In fact, I felt great! I looked down at my arms, and I noticed for the first time that the grey splotches were no longer dry, and were shimmering under my sweat. The lotion was useless, so what was getting rid of all of the dryness?
“May I help you?”
The receptionist’s voice slammed me back to reality and I instinctively covered my arms. “Yeah, I would like to see about setting up a show here.”
She looked at me dully, “Are you a comic? Or are you the agent?”
“I’m the comic.”
The heat blocked her enthusiasm, but I had a hard time imagining she would’ve been excited anyway. “Alright. We don’t have anyone else here, so just right on in through that door.”
The door on the wall she pointed to had a name printed on it, but like the building itself was past its prime.
Inside of the stuffy room was a man who not surprisingly matched the rest of this run-down building. He looked up at me and grimaced in complete disgust, as if I were the one who was falling apart like a leper (Oh, I’m writing that one down!).
“What are you doing here?” He groaned.
I mentioned I wanted to try to land a show here, and he perked up.
“Really? Well, that’s different. I thought you were a salesman. Sorry, I wouldn’t have acted like that if I had known you were a comic, which I would’ve learned earlier if my SECRETARY WOULD USE HER INTERCOM!”
The moody woman gave him a piece of her mind with a piece of her wave. There weren’t any other chairs, so I stayed standing.
We ran through the cookie-cutter steps that I was used to when setting up a show. He asked me my name, information, style of comedy, and if I could show him some of my stuff. However, I didn’t have to strain myself since the lack of business had made them desperate. Finally, as he wrote some things down, he asked the final question. “When’s the soonest you can perform?”
This nearly knocked me over! “As soon as possible, even tonight! Well…” my mood changed to sneaky, “depends on what you’re willing to pay.”
The man stood up, “We’ll pay anything! Name you’re price! We just need you’re act so we can get some business!”
I thought hard about this. The question was almost like asking me what I one wish I really wanted; you were afraid to answer right away in case it wasn’t quite right.
“How about… a hundred and fifty dollars?”
“Deal! Gregory Shoemaker, we’ll see you tonight at 8 o’clock, SHARP! You will have until then to prepare, and then the show will be at ten.”
He grabbed my hand and shook vigorously, looking at me as if I were the Savior, then sat down at his desk. He began to call and someone, the city paper maybe, and as I walked out I heard him shouting into the phone.
“Listen, we’ve got some business here! No, it wasn’t a salesman, we have a comic! He’s not that great, but if we get people to come, we can get some dough in!”
He must’ve figured I was out of earshot, but I didn’t mind. Hell, I was happy! On the first day, on my first try, I landed a show for 150 dollars! Forget about the curious blotches or the horrible back ache, I WAS GOING TO DO A SHOW!
But I was hungry. Where can I eat here?
There was a bistro a few blocks away that called to me. It smelled like fish, which at that time seemed delicious to me.
How much money did I have, though? I dug through my pocket, bringing out a wad of tens. Maybe if I eat small, I can afford it.
I know I am not telling you very much at this point, but it is because it really isn’t very important. I want to tell you my story but the whole comedy club thing wasn’t a big deal. What happened next, however, was.
I sat down at a side table, noticing on the wall above me it was noon. I had been away from the house for close to an hour, and had eight hours to prepare. I was sure of what I was going to say, but I needed to think up some things for the people of this island. It was inhabited with Cajuns and some Hispanic creeds, so I had to think….why is everyone wiping away their sweat? I think it feels great on me. Despite lack of sleep, I felt energized! The people around me, however, curled up their noses and moved away. Let them, I was enjoying myself!
“Hi, my name is Sharon, and I will be your hostess. Would you like to try our new Cajun smoked Salmon Fillet?”
“Yes please”
I sat back, thinking deep about my act….wow, why does my sweat feel so invigorating?
The meal cost me all the money in my pocket, but I didn’t care as I felt I deserved the reward. The fish which had smelled so appetizing sat before me like a hot chunk of nothing. How was I sure this was fish?
STOP IT! Wow, was all of the humidity going to my head? Take a bite and just shut up!
Reluctantly I cut the disgusting slab of dead and took a bite. I swallowed it, and a wave of thoughts swept me. Why must these spices be on here? Why is it so hot? This tastes like smoke. Ouch, my teeth!
I asked the woman for a glass of water as I forced down the ‘fish’. As she handed to me, my palm turned dry and I noticed that my hand had one of those splotches on it, now mature since it shone silver under my perspiration. I took a sip and just like with the coffee began to gasp and cough. WHAT WAS IN THE WATER AT THIS ISLAND?
More like what isn’t in it, an inner voice told me.
The coffee was made with the same water…but Aimee was fine. This was just water, but everyone else was fine.
I ran out and hopped on my bike, dashing off and leaving my troubled thoughts behind me.
***

I must’ve rode five miles in the wrong direction, finally stopping and recognizing that I did not recognize this area. So, I sat down on the gravel, sweat literally dripping from my brow. I looked up at the sun and saw which way it was moving. I wanted to go that way. Before getting up, I noticed that the lump on my back was getting bigger, along with the strange bruise on my neck. I pulled up my pant-leg and noticed there was a mature blotch covering the entire length of it. I was going to have to wear extra to hide this stuff!
So I followed the sun back to our house, seeing on the wall clock that there were now only six hours to prepare. Aimee was still un packing and didn’t notice me when I came in, the stereo was way too loud.
For a minute I basked in the glow of the new look of the house. For the first time since I had moved out and met Aimee, I felt like I was now in my own home. There would be bills, but at least no rent was due, no noisy neighbors, no dangers besides an inevitable burglary or a storm. This would be the perfect place for my child to grow up in.
I needed a shower. The sweat felt good but I wanted to look attractive.
The weird activity didn’t stop there, either. As soon as I stepped in under the showerhead, my skin dried and cracked, bleeding in several spots but mostly on the silver areas. I began to vomit a bit under the water so immediately, sensibly, I got out. After sitting on the toilet seat for a bit, I realized I was wasting precious time.
Aimee had taken a break and went down to the beach, and from what I saw, she was near the dolphin again. The one that had caused all of this to happen. I might die because of her!
There were more pressing matters at hand, though. I really needed to get my act written the best I could. So that’s what I did, and for the next few hours I stayed in the den, tearing at my hair (which to my surprise started to come out easier), pacing the room, and reviewing my notebook. When I had something acceptable, I grabbed my show costume; a white shirt with a padded vest, a dog chain, and blue shaded sunglasses. Aimee, who had been working hard all day, was resting on the couch. Quietly I slipped out.
I arrived on time and spent one and a half hours in the backroom, in my ‘costume’ and running a bit of hair gel through my long bushy black hair, giving it a bit more of a greasy look. Hyped up and adrenaline pumping, I added bits of makeup to make the blotches on my face disappear a bit. I had my first show to do.
The place was packed! There must’ve been a third of the island there, all chatting in amusement at the first comedy show in a while. “Here he is folks, a man all the way from the Big Apple, Greg Shoemaker!”
Oh no, he said my name wrong! Can’t worry about that now, the crowd’s cheering! I’d better ‘get into character’.
Behind my shaded glasses my eyes looked tired but happy, a bit like a stoner’s eyes. I had a bit of a limp in my walk from the dolphin bite, but that made me look more like I was intoxicated. I acknowledged random people applauding in the audience, bowing my head this way and that and smiling to that person. I set the log rolling with the first line, would it go uphill or downhill? “Wow, I’ve never seen so many Cajuns all in one room before. I thought they evacuated the Superdome.” The seemingly cruel joke made the crowd laugh, which immediately improved the outcome. I was relieved that my audience could take a beating, so they must like even nice jokes too.
“It’s amazing how everything sounds like a good idea when you’re horny. You’re wife’s badgering you to clean out and paint the garage but really you’re just waiting for those Viagra pills to kick in. The bad side, though, is when you get done it’s always ‘Honey I’m so impressed with you. Let’s have sex.’ and of course you’re like ‘No way, it says I’m not supposed to take too many.’
It was a success, and I think the crowd loved me. I was paid my one hundred and fifty dollars and asked to return as soon as possible. It looked like I might have a good chance on this island after all.
The show was over at ten, and Aimee was asleep on the mattress. I curled up next to her, my profit sitting in my jeans on the dresser, and fell asleep.
***
I couldn’t sleep much, though, past four in the morning. Every ten minutes or so I would wake up and gasp for air. After nearly an hour of this I decided to just stay awake. I needed to use the restroom anyway.
But as I got in, however, I saw that there were much more blotches on my body, cracking in many spots and bleeding. By this point, I could actually see and feel a blotch as it covered my body. What happened next was the most horrible moment of the ordeal.
A great shot of pain ripped through my body, doubling me over as if I had been punched in the stomach. My breathing choked as I realized no air was going in my nose or mouth! I wheezed at the lack of oxygen, sticking my finger down my throat just to see if anything was blocking it. I found my gag muscle had disappeared, along with my esophagus! Frantic and trying hard to breathe, I watched in horror as the blotches grew in size and immediately matured, the ones around my stomach area turning more whitish than the rest. What’s happening to me?
Before I could answer, more pain started, but I could see it and feel it now. With a loud sort of ripping noise the skin on my back split open and something began to protrude painfully and sharply. I tried to scream but all that came out was a silent airy moan. I could feel the blood ooze out and down my back. All around me my skin was cracking and shifting, getting tougher but still dry. I only thought of one thing: get to the beach.
I stumbled outside, naked, and right to the edge of the bluff. Another round of pain surged through me and I fell. I fell right off the edge of the bluff. Well, not exactly, along the way I managed to grab hold onto a bush growing along the side, but that only saved me from dying. I let go after another wave of pain struck me. I hit the sand hard but no bones broke, since I could feel them shifting and getting stronger anyway. With blood oozing from my back and cuts, I found I couldn’t stand up. Being vertical seemed impossible to me, so I had to roll to the beach. Each time I was on my back, I could feel this odd raised lump dig into the sand, stinging like new tender skin. Somehow I reached the waves, letting the cool water rush over me and my skin moisten up. That didn’t stop the pain, though.
I could literally feel my bones shifting, breaking with each out of place movement. My body was breaking, and it hurt something fierce! I wanted to scream but I still could barely breathe. With my arms snapping and moving still, I reached up and felt the bruise on my neck. It had split open, my fingers could go through! When I did this the feeling felt horrible, and to my surprise I felt air rush through, past my fingers, and realized I could now breathe! Then another round of pain hit me as my nose snapped, the cartilage bending and shrinking, blood shooting out of my nostrils. My nose grew, along my jaws, and they seemed to form one body part.
There was horrible, indescribable amounts of pain as my body morphed. Bones broke, shrunk, and some disappeared. My ears sucked back into my head, all the while bursting old blood vessels and nerves as new ones formed. There was a great deal of pain and pressure as my skull changed shape, expanded, and rounded. Teeth were knocked out and more shot through my new gums. Muscles tore and disappeared while others bulked up and moved. I noticed that there was skin forming folds around my genitals so I never saw what happened to it. Everything inside me was changing too, causing horrible cramps and all I could do was gasp for air out of my neck hole. I watched in horror as my arms shrank, buckling the bones and fusing my fingers together. There was another agonizing rip as something shot out of the small of my back that my legs seemed to phase into.
I must’ve been lying on the beach for ten minutes, interrupting every few strings of torture with loud gasping noises erupting from my neck hole. After a bit, the pain episodes reduced in intensity and my body moved less, until it abruptly stopped. All that I could hear was the loud crashing of waves and me breathing in and out through the hole in the back of my neck, which I didn’t quite now what it looked like. I was so confused, but at the same time exhausted and sore. Drifting into a daze, I stared down the beach at the lighthouse, waiting for the sun to rise.
***
I’m did my best to explain that last part since I don’t remember much, just plenty of agony. For the hour or so I spent lying on the beach, all I remember is watching the sunrise and the ocean waves wash over me. Besides that, I didn’t have much thought or any means of movement, like I had passed out.
It wasn’t until about six or seven that I heard a new sound. It was the sound of people talking. Two were feminine, three were masculine. One of the feminine voices I recognized and realized it was Aimee. Who was she with? Scientists? Doctors? Or did she see me in my present unidentifiable state and decide to make a sideshow of me? No, that wasn’t it, it was most likely doctors and scientists.
I was wrong! They were locals, I saw as they stood over me. Two of the men were carrying a sort of sling. One of the women, who I recognized though we were in a shadow, spoke. “I found him lying here. I thought I should get help to move him back to the water.” It was Aimee, but why wasn’t she calling me by my name? Another female, one I didn’t know, began to speak too, “He must’ve been here for a while, he doesn’t seem to be very alert. We’d better hurry up and get him back in the water.”
Aimee spoke next, “Poor thing. I just hate to see dolphins beached.”
Dolphin? Was the shadow really that dark? Couldn’t she see it was me? I wanted to shout to her that it was me, that something had happened and I wasn’t quite the same, but that was impossible. All I could do was breathe.
The men moved carefully and placed the sling beneath me, soaking up water so I was comfortable. Everyone, Aimee included, got to a side and was with them chatting the whole time. They lifted me a few inches and moved quickly. In just a few seconds I was out in the water as it soaked through the cloth of the sling. I overheard Aimee and the other woman asking about me, or rather what they presumed was still me.
“So where’s your husband? I saw him last night at the CCC and he was really good. Is he around?”
Aimee shrugged, “He’s probably down in the town right now. I couldn’t find his bike anywhere.”
No Aimee, my love, I’m right here! Please don’t make me leave, you were right! I need a doctor!
Perhaps a vet would be better…..I guess I am a dolphin. My thoughts were turning hysterical.
I struggled in the water, and Aimee, with the water up to her knees, leaned down by me. “Don’t worry, we’ll have you back in no time. You‘re safe with us, we won‘t hurt you.”
Oh, forget that! I know you wouldn’t do that Aimee, but you are hurting me! Can’t you see it’s really your husband Gregory you‘re talking too? Do you honestly think I’m just a beached dolphin? Help me!
The sling was moved into the water deep enough so that they were all waist deep in the waves. Aimee spoke again, tearing me up inside, “We can’t go much farther, or we could get swept out to sea. Go on, swim off.”
Swim off, like a good dolphin, I thought miserably. I tried one more time to make Aimee realize it was me. I looked her right in the eyes and thought forcibly. Aimee, it’s me! Don’t make me leave, I can’t swim! This isn’t a dolphin, it is really your husband! Please….
It was useless. They pulled the sling out from under me and I floated, suddenly buoyant. They scrambled to get back to the shore to avoid the turbulent waters. They weren’t so turbulent to me, but that was because -ulp- I was a dolphin.
So, how do you swim in this thing? I tried to use my flippers to move me, but that didn’t get me far enough. With awkward, clumsy thrusts, I thrashed my ‘tail’ up and down, enough to give off the illusion of swimming. The crowd on the shore was cheering, the five of them shaking hands and looking out to me.
Swim off, like a good dolphin.
***

It took me a few minutes, but with enough of the tail thrusts, I was able to make it to Coney Island four hundred meters from the shore of the other island. I desperately wanted answers to what was going on, and didn’t want to be too far away from my home. I loitered around the island, breathing through my blowhole.
Those questions would soon be answered. I saw ahead of me a dark figure, oddly familiar, that was moving in closer. In my mix of misery, confusion, and physical pain, I ignored the dolphin as she swam up to me. I avoided her seductive eye as she moved in close, circling around me. After swimming for a few moments, she pressed her bottlenose to my side and began to make a series of noises, which I could understand.
“I guess the transformation didn’t change your personality much, you still seem tense.”
Not only was I tense, but suddenly frightened! This dolphin could communicate with me, easy as talking! Seeing that she had my attention, the dolphin swam in front of me and gave me a friendly look which I did not acknowledge. “Hello, aren’t you happy to see me? I’m happy to see you.”
I merely stared at her, my eyes wide. Everything was happening so fast and I couldn’t keep up. My expression, so to speak, blared out at her in a collage of anger, puzzlement, and fear. A dolphin expression is based in its eyes and with succeeding or preceding body language, which I’m sure mine was. The dolphin gave me the impression she was giving a sigh. “It’s alright, you can speak. Just think hard about what you want to tell me and start to make noise, and it should collaborate.” I breathed out of my blowhole, realizing with a twinge of embarrassment that I didn’t know how to make any of the noises dolphins make. My ‘mate’ was patient and merely gave a sort of cetacean laugh, explaining very detailed on how to make the air pass over the certain spots I needed, but you don’t need to worry about that.
I did as I was told, making a series of clicks and squeals, practicing with her language. Finally I grasped the secret and began to speak. “H-H-H”, stuttering as I forced my emotions backed. The female listened close, probably expecting me to say ‘Hello’. “H-H-How could you do this to me?” I eventually sputtered out, catching her by surprise.
“Well, as you may have figured out it was all from the bite-”
“No, I mean how could you do this?” I was growing more aggressive in my communication.
“I knew you wanted answers so I thought that-”
“NO! I mean, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!?”
The dolphin looked a bit upset, ultimately answering with “ What is the matter? I only did it because I loved you and you loved me.”
“I DO love you! I’m IN LOVE with Aimee! I-I can’t believe you would do something like this. I not only love Aimee, I love being around her! I love the house, I love the island, I loved the idea of spending my days here with my wife, who right now is four months pregnant with my child. I loved thinking about starting a family, and you come along and I loved you too, then you pulled this off, somehow. Then after a horrible string of events you come here and act like you don’t know why I’m not happy?!? I was loved down at the CCC and my future looked high. A future, don’t you understand? I HAVE A LIFE!!!!!!!!” My head bent down, and I quietly added , “I had a life.”
I was shaking horribly with rage. Dolphins don’t cry, but I guess you could say I was when I began to vocalize a string pseudo-whimpers. The dolphin was looking at me with the same look she had the last time I had seen her, and now I knew that it was, in fact, guilt. She drifted closer to my shaking dolphin body, and gently began to rub my with her fin. “I’m so sorry, Gregory. If I would’ve known, I wouldn’t have done it.”
I didn’t respond. Believe it or not, but her rubbing actually calmed me down. It must’ve been her grace and inner seductive skill, but I still didn’t feel better emotion-wise.
“I know this is hard for you, Gregory, and I can’t tell you how bad I feel that I made you have to go through that, but I did have my reasons. I will tell you on our way to my pod.”
I looked up at her. This was the dolphin responsible for my strange transformation, for separating me from my wife and home, who up until the time she had bitten me I actually had feelings for her. Now, I was going to spend years with her and her pod? No way.
“I don’t want to go with you.” I said, very flatly.
Obviously the dolphin was offended and hurt. “Why not?”
“You’ve caused too much trouble. I just want to be alone.”
I tried, rather maladroitly, to swim from her. She was right by me and following. “You should stay with me, though. You have no idea how all of this works, and I want to teach you.”
“I’m not your damn calf. Now go away.”
She imitated my aggressive behavior, swimming in front of me. What I had just said seriously crossed the line with her, and I was a bit fearful again. “You might as well be! This place is pretty large, and I can bet you anything you don’t know a pinch of it. You can barely even move! You know, there are only two things you have to worry about out here; humans and other dolphins. Now, I don’t see this ‘Aimee’ around, but there are other dolphins around here that could harm you, and just so you know I am ‘some other dolphin’!”
I realized she was right. I was naïve to the ocean, but when I was human that didn’t matter. Now there was no way out of it, it was my large prison. Ashamed, I bent my head down, yielding to the dolphin’s obvious superiority. “I’m sorry.”
She gently swam close to me and nudged underneath my head. “It’s alright,” she trilled softly, “let’s just get you to the pod. I have many there I want you to meet. My name is Isthia, by the way. Come with me, Gregory.”
Isthia turned and started to swim away, but I still wasn’t going to go. “I’m staying here then, if I can’t go to sea alone.” She turned around and looked at me, slightly puzzled.
“Why?”
“I don’t trust you.”
She didn’t grow angry again, to my surprise. She just swam back to me and moved just far enough away so her rostrum was touching mine. “Why? Was it because of what I said earlier?”
I didn’t answer, but she knew. The guilt in Isthia’s eyes were apparent now, and once again she moved to my side and began to stroke me with her fin. “I’m sorry I said that. Please don’t get the wrong impression of me, Gregory. I really do love you and I would never intentionally hurt you.”
“You did two nights ago.”
“That was different! I could sense you were curious about me, aggressively curious, and I thought that if you wanted to know the answers I would have to show you. Plus, after I had mated with you, I didn’t want you to go in case you didn’t come back. That sounds dumb, and I admit it. At the time it seemed like the right thing to do. It wasn’t until I saw you curl up that I realized I made a mistake.”
“Why was it when I curled up?”
“Because I had frightened you! You should’ve seen how your adrenaline was pumping, I could feel it too. I saw that you looked helpless, that you were afraid of me because you thought I was going to kill you. I knew right then that that was the wrong path to take, so I swam off ashamed of myself and not wanting you to be angry with me. Do you think it was easy for me when you didn’t show up the next morning? I felt horrible…I had three possible scenarios of what could’ve happened to you. One was you were angry with what I had done and refused to see me. The second one was you were to afraid I would hurt you again, and I want you to be able to trust me. The third was that the infection-yes, what happened was from an infection-had harmed you and you were either sick or dying. Please Gregory, don’t say things like that. I will never ask anything of you except your love, trust, and respect. Once I have those, I will make sure they are never damaged.”
Isthia was right again, and somewhat sad. I met my rostrum with hers and began to nuzzle her. “Don’t worry, dear Isthia, you have my love, respect, and now my trust. I never realized what you had to go through while I was gone. If I would’ve known, I would’ve come to see you instead of going into town. I knew you wouldn’t have brought up any mating things because you are intelligent enough to know Aimee would’ve been mad. I could’ve thought what I’m saying know, and you would be able to understand it.”
She looked confused again. “What do you mean?”
“You know, you’re mind reading ability.”
“Mind reading? I wish! No, I can’t read minds.”
Huh? “But you seemed to be able to when I was at the beach with Aimee, and that night.”
“No, we’re just more sensitive to your inner emotions. It’s almost like what you humans call an aura. Not all dolphins have this ability, but many of us do.”
“Did you at least understand what I was saying to you?”
“Not really. I understood the general meanings of what you and your wife were saying, but I didn’t understand the words.”
We continued to nuzzle each other, until Isthia decided to go to the pod.
“Good idea. Oh, wait….” I paused, looking rather ashamed, “Um, could you teach me how to swim?”
***

The swimming lesson had gone smoothly. Though I struggled with it, Isthia’s tone (intensity of sounds) never rose above average, and she didn’t seem to be losing her temper. If I made a mistake, she would laugh (so to speak) politely and try it again.
Now we were swimming out to sea. Isthia was close at my side keeping my pace and making sure I was swimming right. It’s amazing how fast you can go when you’re a dolphin! In a few powerful thrusts of my tail, Coney Island was now a bit of a blotch of in distance behind us (we were heading south-west). The journey at this point was quiet but with the long travel ahead of us, about two hours, I decided to make a conversation.
“So, Isthia. How did this happen?”
She moved her side eye my way. At this distance I could easily see the scars and cuts she had endured over her life. “What do you mean?”
“You know, how you bit me in my foot and I turned into a dolphin. How did that happen? I know it was from some sort of infection, but does that make me a were-dolphin?”
With a gleeful chattering noise, much like a giggle, Isthia responded. “a WHAT?”
“Well, up on the land we have certain myths about these big, menacing creatures called werewolves. Supposedly, if you get attacked by one and survive, the next full moon you grow fur and change your body form, running around on all fours looking for blood.”
She was getting a real kick out of this. I would be too, if I wasn’t so scared of werewolves. “ Searching for blood? That sounds more like a shark with us.” Her head moved to the side so she could look up, then continued, “and I don’t see any full moon. I doubt you’ve become a were-whatever.”
“Then what did happen to me, Isthia?”
She went up to get a breath. I followed, realizing this might be a long story.
“Well, Gregory, none of us really know. All we know is it’s gotten us in trouble before. You know how when you humans are scared, you produce a chemical called ‘adrenaline?’”
I nodded my snout, amazed at how she knew about that.
“It’s like that with us, except we never really get scared. Our next big emotion is love, or in some cases, lust. When we mate and it’s not just for fun or procreation, it’s to show love. We dolphins are already affectionate creatures, but when we really get into affection, we begin to release another chemical. The only problem is that we don’t know that we have it running through our blood and flesh. We don’t create saliva because we don’t need to dissolve food like you do, but for some reason this chemical is in our mouths when we make it. If we are to bite something and come in contact with it’s blood, we infect the creature and it eventually becomes one of us. Fortunately, and I don’t know how, but this only works if you bite the one you just mated with. If I were to go eat a fish while this chemical was in me, it would have no affect on the fish since I didn’t mate with it, and for the most point it’ll be dead.”
She turned to look at me, a happy look in her eyes. “This only happened because I love you, and we had just mated. Might I add, that was really great! I’ve never mated with a human before, and I was about to stop because I thought I would’ve hurt you.”
I turned to her too. “Well, I’d never mated with a dolphin. To be frank, that was the first time I had actually touched one. Thanks for being precautious, though, I was a little scared myself. I felt a bit like Captain Ahab right next to Moby Dick.”
Isthia was confused. I just told her it was a long story and left it at that.
We swam a bit more in silence. My mate sure did have the ability to lighten the mood. When I had first seen her I was hysterical and confused. Now I was calm and much more happier. I thought to myself, maybe this won’t be so bad. I might actually enjoy living with some of the dolphins.

Then I recalled one of the questions I had wanted to ask her. “Another thing, too,” She looked my way, “why were you so interested in Aimee and I when you saw us on the beach?”
She went up for another breath, then came back down looking my way. “It’s because I like humans. I’ve always been interested in what you do while you’re on the land. There is a huge amount of difference in appearance, but other than that we’re almost exactly alike. You’re the smartest of the land, we’re the smartest of the sea. I know that you humans find us interesting too, because I usually see you in some sort of shell diving into the water.” Isthia nabbed a fish with her powerful jaws and nonchalantly swallowed it, all the while I looked on in surprise. She continued on.
“I can’t tell you how much I want one of those, those ‘shells’ you use. You humans have the advantage, you know? Even without the shells you can mostly swim around with us, though we’re faster and don’t have to rise so often. If we try to get into your world-” she broke off for a second, “We die. Our bodies dry out. That doesn‘t matter though, as long as we can interact in some way. Just like when I see a boat full of people and they all dive in, I like to swim with them. I can see their behaviors, how they react, and they seem to enjoy us when we get close. Tell me one thing, though , are humans afraid of us? Most of the time if I get too close I can sense fear in the human, but I wouldn’t hurt them.”
She looked to me for an answer, but I was silent in thought. Personally, she was asking the wrong person-er, dolphin-because I wasn’t sure. “Well, up on land we see you dolphins differently. In almost every Oceanside store, there is a dolphin decal. We see you as peaceful animals, and with the usual size much smaller. Mainly we’re just surprised at how big you really are, and with how peaceful you seem to us we get the feeling that you‘re not.”
Isthia seemed to understand. “I suppose everyone thinks we’re all exactly the same, right?”
“Yes, actually. On land, we have a popular icon named ‘Flipper’, a dolphin from long ago. This dolphin was friendly and extremely helpful, not to mention almost comfortable with all humans. No one knew that the acting dolphin was a domesticated one.”
“You still call those dolphins?”
“Yes, what do you call them?”
Isthia bowed her head. “A disgrace. Forgive me Gregory, I really do like humans but I think its wrong of them to keep one of us locked up in a small pen for our entire lives. I know it’s not your fault, but it really makes me upset.”
I rubbed my rostrum against her, “I know you do. I never thought much of it until I realized how much space you take up when swimming comfortably.” She pressed her rostrum to mine, both of us occasionally rubbing the other’s. “After that,” I continued, “There was a swarm of dolphin related material. There were paintings and pictures, all showing that you seemed to be harmonious beings of the water. Its only when we’re up close that we realize that each dolphin has its own personality. They’re not these ocean dwelling mammals we figure are out there to entertain us, they’re living creatures with minds of their own.”
I let her take this all in, swimming silently next to her. “So, humans think of us as smaller, identical sea mammals? With a friendly attitude and loveable personality? Interesting….”
“You must understand, though, the ‘Flipper’ phase wasn’t just the reason. There have always been stories, back from the earliest dated records, of dolphins helping humans. We hear of how you save surfers and swimmers from sharks, how people who have fallen overboard from a ship ride on one of you until they reach the mainland. Not only that, fisherman are occasionally helped by a pod that round up fish and drive them into the net, which we give a percent of to for helping. Why is it that dolphins seem so eager to help humans, even though we do bad things to you?”
“It’s because until a human does something bad to us, we respect them.” Isthia said, rather assertively, “We all know that not every single human is responsible for what is going on in the world. It’s obvious to us that there are people out there who really care for us, who are trying to stop all of this. A dolphin, when it meets a human, will most likely be curious. It all has to do with luck. If the human they meet is good at heart and we can sense they respect us, that dolphin will turn out good and will help people until something breaks their trust. Once the trust is broken, it takes the dolphin a long time before it will regain it. If a beached dolphin is saved, I can guarantee you that it will respect humans no matter what. I’m sure the same goes for your species.”
“Yeah, it does.”
I couldn’t believe it. There I was, your down-to-Earth narrator, who had just had his Earth turned upside down. This was quite a revelation! Humans can guess and guess at why the dolphins help us, but that’s just it! Animals that fear us on instinct are inferior in intelligence. The dolphins know that like them, we have individual personalities and that grouping us together as ‘bad’ just isn’t their nature.
It doesn’t matter how much you tell yourself that you love dolphins. You have no idea how they work until you hear it from them. If you pay attention, they will help you to know. Once you understand them, that’s when you can start to really love them. And that’s how it was for me.
I moved closer to Isthia so our bodies were touching. By now we were coasting through the water on the energy we had built up. Our tails, now no longer in use, wrapped around the others. Isthia’s under mine, mine over Isthia’s. This allowed us to get much closer than before, same as our bond.
***

We continued to swim on through the Gulf, quietly for the most part except for the long answers we made to each other about our species differences. The bulk of it was what I have just told you, and I feel that is most important. I recall we also talked about our earlier lives, and I spent a great deal of time explaining to Isthia about the area I lived in.
“You mean to tell me,” She made her mock-giggle noise again, something I found rather eerie but silly, “that where you lived there wasn’t ANY water?”
“Except for the water that filled our sinks and bathtubs, no. We had water parks and pools, but I never went to those.”
“Why not? Wouldn’t you get tired of being hot and dry?”
“I was used to it. I had lived like this my entire life. Sure, I drank water and I always showered, but I never thought of jumping into it as ‘pleasant’. Since I was born a land mammal, why would I want to try going into the water? That’s why I didn’t want to get very far into the sea when I was with you that one night.”
“Is that also why you seemed so irritated that you couldn’t get that paper, too? You couldn’t swim?”
“Exactly. But besides that, the water in the area could’ve sucked me out to sea, and I would’ve drowned.”
Isthia pressed herself against me, “You wouldn’t have drowned. I was there with you. I would’ve brought you back if you were pulled away from the shore.”
“I didn’t know that then. Actually, when I first saw you that time, I thought you were going to mess the paper up. That’s why I seemed so irritated, but I’m sorry about that now.”
She nodded, “I knew the paper was valuable to you. When I saw that you were angry at yourself because you couldn’t reach it and not at me, I decided to help you. Then you helped me.”
I remembered that now. I had pushed her back into the water when she had gotten stuck, but there had been other things on my mind so I didn’t think much of it. No wonder she seemed so attached to me at the time. Still, I didn’t want to think about how casual I had been when she was near death.
“I can say this now, since you can understand me, thank you so much for helping me get my paper back.”
Isthia looked at me and her dark eyes glistened. Something told me that was all she really wanted to hear.
***

It was nearly one and a half hours before I lost my patience and asked Isthia where we were going.
“We’re going to an island off the coast of Texas. Maybe you’ll recognize it when we get there.”
I didn’t, seeing as I never went that far south, but I know now from seeing a sign that it was South Padre.
The trip was calm up until we meet up with trouble. Isthia didn’t have to fear anything but humans and other dolphins, but she had forgotten the other thing that for me was the worst: sharks.
There were three of them, but you shouldn’t ask me. Isthia spotted them long before I did.
We were swimming through the clear Gulf water when she abruptly stopped me. As I waited behind her, she moved forward and started to scan the waters. She moved back to me with wide eyes. “Just what I thought. Gregory, you know how I said I was going to teach you about being a dolphin? Well, this is the first lesson, sorry it’s so unexpected. If you watch carefully and remember all you see, I can teach you the offensive part verbally when we reach the other island.”
I was about to ask what was going on, but she was a few paces ahead. “Sharks, three of them. I think they knew we were here before we knew about them. They’re only half full, so we’re in some luck. This is the plan: we’re going to sit still and quiet and hope they pass by. Then, when I start to swim around you, stay as still as you possibly can. But when I stop and go one way, go the other and don’t look back. If there is a shark on your tail, whistle for me and I’ll come after it. If you see a shark, swim out of it’s way. This might be hard since you don’t know how to use your echolocation, but you’ve got to trust me on this one.”
I looked at her in horror. “Don’t worry, dear Gregory,” she softly trilled, brushing me with her fin, “I can get you out of this one. I’ll keep you safe.”
I had a feeling something bad was going to happen, but I had told Isthia that she had my trust and if she did end up losing the battle, I wouldn’t want to remember me breaking my promise. So, I put all of my trust in her and we waited.
Sure enough, three dark figures emerged from the distance. They looked a lot like us, except rougher and less streamlined. Both my mate and I sat quietly, having taken a breath earlier, and watched the three figures. Soon they were close enough to see clearly: sharp points along each curve, a gravely gray body color, and the tiny black eyes above long rows of killer teeth. At first, it looked like they would pass us, until Isthia scanned them one more time and realized they were in attack mode. They knew we were there and that we looked like a good meal. Quickly, Isthia swam around me in a tight protective circle.
I was horrified at not only how much danger both of us were in, but how Isthia’s once graceful and seductive attitude had suddenly turned aggressive and powerful. I know that she intended this to be to the sharks and not me, but this did creep me out a bit.
Suddenly, as she rounded me, she sped forward and head butted the nearest shark. Remembering what she had told me, I swam off in the other direction as quick as I could. There was plenty more water resistance at this speed, pressing my melon painfully. After speeding off I turned around to see if there were any sharks after me.
Nope. They were all surrounding Isthia. She battered at one while at the same time hitting another with her tail. She tried to swim out of the tangled mass of the sharks, but she was outnumbered. Finally she used a surprise attack and dove downward, escaping from a bite that instead went to another shark. The wounded shark had been bitten on one set of gills, blood flowing from the other one. The blood of the shark drew it’s dimwitted brethren away from Isthia, and immediately the sharks went after the wounded one. Isthia, now obviously fearful, swam my way and came close to me. “Are you hurt?”
“No, I made it out in time. How about you?”
Isthia was shaking slightly, but she otherwise looked like her normal self, “I think I made it out okay too.”
The two remaining sharks, finally remembering who they were out to get in the first place, began to swim our way.
“I guess we’re going to have to do this again. Remember, swim off when I attack them.”
She began to swim around me again, tightly, her eyes aimed toward the advancing sharks as if to say ‘If you want him, you’ll have to get through me first’. Next thing I knew, Isthia had head butted another shark and I was swimming away. I looked one way and saw that Isthia was only attacking one shark. Where was the other one?
Right on my tail! Should I keep swimming and hope for the best, or should I call for Isthia? Then I remembered she said to trust her, and I knew I had to. I whistled in a high pitched tone, and almost instantly after that, a silver streak cut through the water like a torpedo, and rammed into the shark. Isthia battered the brute hard, butting it with her head and smacking it with her tail. I looked back to where the other shark was and saw it was upside down, unconscious and most likely suffocating. I turned my attention back to Isthia, who was about to tail-slap the shark when it bit her on the flank. Blood flowed from her side and she whistled in pain as the shark ripped through her flesh. Isthia’s agility dropped in intensity, and she stopped moving. It looked like my bad feelings had come true.
With a second wind, Isthia shook herself loose from the jaws of the shark, moved back and scanned it with her echolocation. Keeping on the target, she thrust her tail as hard as she could and slammed right into the shark’s underside. The shark vomited up blood and everything else before sinking. Isthia had won, but she wasn’t moving.
I was paralyzed. She had fought off three sharks for me, and it looked like now she was dying. A great amount of blood was flowing from the shark bite, darkening the water around her. In a hurry, I swam up to her and saw that her eyes and blowhole were closed. She was barely floating.
As if it would help, I began to nudge her all over her body, silently pleading with her to be fine. I had no idea where I was, and I didn’t know any other crucial things to being a dolphin besides swimming and communicating. Not only that, but she was my mate and I couldn’t live without her.
Suddenly she snapped back from her daze. Her eyes were open now, wide open, and she moved upwards to the surface to breathe. I waited below, many feet away from the blood, as she got a good breath and then she came back down.
“Are you okay? Did a shark get you?”
I was so stunned I stammered a bit. “Y-You’re hurt.”
“Yeah, it does hurt, but I’ll be alright. Will you be?”
“…Uh huh, I’m not hurt.” I stared at the gash in horror/guilt.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve had worse, you know.”
She turned over on her side, her dorsal fin facing me. Behind her dorsal fin was a circular patch of white, about the size of platter dish. I moved my rostrum close to the scar and began to rub it, a gesture saying that I was sorry to see that.
“You took a bite just to save my life. There must be something I can do to make it up to you.”
Isthia turned herself back over, looking me in the eyes with a serious yet cheery look. “You don’t have to do anything, Gregory. Like I said before, all I will ever ask of you is your trust, respect, and love. Once I have those, I will make sure they stay strong. Besides, you are my mate and another dolphin, and this is what we do for each other.”
She was right again. I moved my rostrum close to hers and pressed against it. Isthia licked the tip of my snout and gave her usual dolphin grin. I grinned back too, and I began to stroke her with my pectoral fin. Her eyes lidded halfway and she drifted more my way, turning on her side. I used my snout to rub down her unwounded side. Isthia then started to swim, slowly and with a bit of a ‘limp’, around me. She would swim halfway around me until she reached my tail, then would press the underside of her head onto my body and swim down my length, rubbing her entire self against me. I did the same for her, and we would swim in opposite spinning circles, rubbing against each other with each pass.
Two minutes had passed. Isthia’s wound was healing, the blood had disappeared, and both of us were in bliss. After the rubbing we had gone back up for air. As we sat at the surface, the hot southern sun warming up our capes, our rostrums were touching. Finally, I spoke.
“Do you think we should move on?”
“Not yet. I’m still a little tired. And I’m enjoying this.”
“Take as long as you want, my love.”
I wasn’t in a hurry. It didn’t matter if I reached the pod or not, Isthia was all I needed for now. She knew about the key points of being a dolphin and was very willing to teach me. Plus, she was my mate and was ready to spread her affection. Not only that, though, after seeing her fight those sharks I knew she could keep me safe.
***
Isthia regained her strength after another half hour. The whole time was spent with us caressing each other.
Her bite had covered over but she still mentioned of a slight pain. Lucky for me when we swam I was on the other side of her. The wound only reminded me of how close I had came to losing her. It left a damper knowing that her gorgeous body would now be scarred from trying to save my life. Isthia told me, though, that she would be alright and she would’ve taken even more bites if it meant me surviving to caress her afterwards. I told her it was a deal.
The attack had slowed our trip down a few minutes, leaving me to start a conversation. “Isthia, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, ask away.”
“I just wanted to know if dolphins really knew about age. Do you keep track of age like how humans do?”
Isthia thought for a second. “Some of us do, but it’s more of an estimate. If you have older family members or friends then it’s easier to say. Why do you ask?”
“I just wanted to know how long I would be able to be here with you. I need to know if there’s a chance I might not have a long time to be with you.”
She looked to me with slight concern, “You’re worried about that already?”
I gave a sort of nod with my head.
“You shouldn’t be. I won’t be leaving anywhere soon. Besides, I think you’d enjoy your time more if you thought more of the present.”
“I know, you’re right, but just seeing you fight off those sharks really made me aware how you might not always be here.”
Isthia still seemed concerned but understood my point, “That’s why you should live like I might not always be here. Everything living has a set time to end their life but they don’t know when it is. Some seem content to wait around fearful of the inevitable and wanting to know when it will come. But when it does their curiosity is sated but their life ends. It’s like they were just put here to wonder when the end would be here and never got a chance to live. I think my set time isn’t in the near future, but you can’t be sure. Right at this very second I could get caught in a driftnet and die. I could be sliced by a boat propeller tomorrow. Or maybe I will live a long, long time before my body gets sick of it all and decides to stop with it. The only problem is I have no idea when it will be. I’m scared of it ending soon, but not because I’m afraid of death. I know I can’t stop it. The problem is that I have friends, family,” she turned to me, “and a mate who I love with all of my heart, and I am scared of leaving them. When someone loses another who was close to them, they think about what things the two didn’t accomplish, how they will never again hear their signature whistle come from their own blowhole or feel the touch of a flipper that they had grown accustomed to,” it surprised me how she had used accurate human words but used dolphin lingo in this part of the speech, “But that’s not just it. The other party can’t feel the same because they no longer have feeling, but do they really get the up side? I can bet that the deceased feel, if they could, remorse that they had just left all of their loved ones at such a good time. Nobody expected it so their life was taken for granted. The living can go on living but the dead are dead. The one who died can’t get over the fact they are dead because now they don’t have any other alternative to distract them from the big picture. A dolphin will get new friends, new mates, and family isn’t as important, but what do the dead have? Nothing. They try to contact the living but the planes are too far apart and they end up fading over time and grow forgotten from the hearts and minds of their living loved ones. They still exist there but no where else, and when they get pushed to the back of the host’s mind, all they can do is watch silently and wistfully want to be there.
“I know it’s a damper to think about it, but what can you do? Do the dead really die off? We can’t decide now, so why worry? We need to cherish what we have when we have it. When the thing disappears, then we can think about how we had lost them, but why think about losing them while we still have them?”
Whoa. She was right, that was a real downer. It made me hate the fact that I was going to die eventually. What was even worse was that Isthia wanted me to feel the exact opposite. I bowed my head low with wide eyes, fearful and saddened.
“It’s alright, Gregory. I hate the fact too but it’s inevitable. If it was up to me I would let you and me live together for as long as we want.” She turned to me again and our eyes met. I saw what she was saying. She had answered my question for the most part, the hidden question, but still needed to answer my original one.
“So, Isthia, do you know how old you are?”
She thought a bit again. “I can't reall guess . It was a few years ago that I matured from a juvenile, but there are many who still call me a young one.”
“How old do you think I would be, as a dolphin?”
“That depends on how old you were as a human.”
“I was 24, 25 in five months.”
Isthia went into another thinking round. When she did these ’secessions’, you could almost feel her brain radiating waves.
“Don’t humans mature at 18 years?”
“That’s the technical was of saying it. I know people who are over 30 and still haven’t matured.”
Isthia looked smugly at me, “Maybe you’re more around five or six”
“Hey, I am not!” I looked at her, at first angry before I sensed her playful atmosphere.
“You’re right. Maybe you’re a three?”
I playfully nipped at her flipper. Seeing as I was the weaker one, though, I obviously missed as Isthia barrel rolled to the side like a fighter plane. She spun around and nipped my tail. This spontaneous game lasted a good three minutes before the pain slowed Isthia down and she forfeited. I still think she was lying, that she was just using her pain to get rubbed by me. Every time she mentioned pain I always felt sad and rubbed her, something that she loved immensely. It didn’t seem to change from when she enjoyed my touch as a human, something she wasn’t used to. Isthia just loved contact, casual, affectionate, or sexual.
***

We had just barely reached South Padre Island when we ran into another pod. I was frightened until Isthia called out her name, her signature whistle, to identify herself. The pod of dolphins, I noticed, were almost all females. There were only two males out of the five dolphins, all of them somehow related to Isthia by blood or word. Like her, they were all bottlenose dolphins with a light silver hue along their bodies. Unlike her, though, they weren’t as scarred, not even the males. Since most of them were related to Isthia (I figured the males were the mates of some of the females) they looked a lot like her, but she was still the only gorgeous one.
One of the females, the one who resembled Isthia the best, swam forward and rubbed her rostrum. “We’ve missed you, Isthia. It’s been a while, long past your intended return date!”
“Sorry Mother,” Isthia trilled, “I didn’t mean to be gone for so long. I found something at the island that caught my attention.”
“You mean humans, don’t you Isthia?”
She looked a tad nervous. “Yes…but they were different. They were as interested in me as I was with them.” It dawned on me she was talking about Aimee and I.
The dolphin, Isthia’s mother, gave a sort of sigh. “Regardless, we’re happy to have you back.”
The older male, the oldest period, swam to the side of Isthia’s mother. “Yes, we were worried you had met up with some sharks again.” He eyed her new bite and I saw his eyes deepen. “Oh. How many were there?”
“Just three, and I killed them all. Sure, the bite hurts a bit but I can still swim.”
It was at that point the large male noticed me, and turned his head sideways to get a look at me through one eye, seeing as we were close. “Who is this? I don’t think I’ve seen him around before. Is this the ‘something’ that caught you’re attention?”
Weird, I didn’t know who was right: him or Isthia. Well, in a way they both were!
Isthia struggled for an answer. “Yes, I found him by the island. He was disorientated and I guess lost.”
The male moved closer to me. He wasn’t acting menacing but I couldn’t help but feel uneasy. “Do you remember you’re signature whistle? Do you even remember anything?”
Something told me not to mention anything about the transformation. I would have to come up with a convincing story, and FAST!
“Uh, a little bit. All I remember was meeting up with Isthia outside of the island. I was feeling weak so she helped feed me. I don’t remember my signature whistle though.”
I glanced at Isthia and by the look in her eyes I knew I was on the right path. “I just remember I was with my family. We were all feeding behind a big boat when it suddenly dropped something into the water.” The dolphins did have names for nets and I knew it, but I only made it seem like I was dazed. “We saw that there were plenty of fish in there, which my mother, father, and sister went after. I saw one lone fish dart out from the school, and I chased after it. Once I had caught it, I started to swim back to my family. To my horror, they were in with the fish school and I couldn’t get out of the thing hanging over the boat. I swam to them but instead I slammed into something that cut my flesh. It was rough and I started to bleed. That didn’t stop me, though. I had to save my family! I began to gnaw at the things that had cut me and battered against it, my family shrinking into the middle of the squirming school of fish. I had destroyed only a small portion of the thing before it sucked back up into the air, my family with them. I still can hear them whistling out to me not to stop, to try to get them out. It was useless, and I didn’t see them again. So I floated around for a few days and didn’t eat. I was too sad that my family was gone, and upset with myself that I didn’t make it in time, that I had gone after that lone fish and not into the school. I met Isthia, who had seen me in my condition, and she told me to wait. She came back carrying two fish, both of which she gave to me. I told her my story and she took pity in me. She told me I could go with her back to her pod. I was so grateful for all that she had done that we mated. One the way over here, we grew to be mates.” I gave Isthia a convincing rub with my beak, which she returned.
The large male seemed convinced but not quite willing to accept me as one of them. He paced in front of us, his brain radiating energy we could sense.
“Isthia, you do know about the rules, right? We can’t just accept any dolphin into our pod at any occasion. But, seeing as he is your mate, I suppose we can make an exception.”
Isthia seemed relieved and ecstatic. She swam around me in circles, rubbing herself against me in a playful manner. Occasionally as she passed me I would nibble her fin or bump her side. Immediately her enthusiasm settled down and she rested down next to me, our bodies touching.
“Then it’s settled. Welcome to the pod. If you do not remember you’re signature whistle, would you like a new one?”
I thought for a minute before whistling out the words ‘lone fish’. Since the pronunciation was different I’m still going to be referred to as ‘Gregory’ so not to cause confusion.
“Welcome to the pod, Gregory. My name is Otis, and I am the alpha male. With me are…” He went on to name the females, who I don’t remember their names. All I remember was that it was Isthia’s mother, her Aunt, and Cousin. “And he-” Otis clicked, motioning to the other male, “is Deryl. He is my son, and will be taking over as the alpha male when I die.”
Deryl, unlike Otis, did not seem happy to have me. “Dad, are you serious? If we let him in, then we’re going to have to let all of the other strays in. That violates the rule!”
Otis looked to Deryl with a casual glance. “I am the alpha male. Who says we need to follow that rule?”
“But, Dad!”
“Isthia, have you and Gregory eaten yet? You should get as much as you can, the food is scarce” Otis cooed, casually ignoring his son.
Isthia, slightly tipped over and pressing against me, replied “I think we’ll be fine for now.”
Otis nodded his head and squawked that the pod should feed.
Deryl looked back to me with an unwelcoming stare. “Welcome to the pod, stray.” He turned to go feed.
This wasn’t going to be good, not with him around! I didn’t pay attention though, I turned all of that to rubbing against Isthia. She whirred and clicked in delight.
***
“How is Otis related to you, Isthia?” I asked her, as we swam around lazily.
“He’s my mother’s new mate. My real father left a few years ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
She shook her bottlenose. “Don’t be. Like I said before, family isn’t as important. I hope you know, Gregory, that a dolphin calf is only raised by the mother. That is the normal way, at least. Usually a male will leave his mate after she gives birth. And the male calves will most likely leave their mother while the female calves stay behind. That’s why our pod is mostly females. Otis meet my mother, and like you and me they had a higher love than just being average mates. They wanted to stay together for as long as possible.”
I began to gently nibble Isthia’s side. “Well, I promise you that if you do give birth, I will still stay with you. I don’t want to have to leave. I love you too much.”
“I love you too, Gregory. I didn’t want you to leave either, but I figured after a while nature would get to you and you would become another one of the male dolphins. But we both know better than that.” She licked my beak. “Don’t we?”
“We sure do, my love.”
So, I guess that Isthia has two forms of kissing. Maybe all dolphins do. The rubbing of the beaks can be a sign of friendship, belonging, or a casual greeting. I figured that when one dolphin would lick the other’s rostrum, it was a sign of affection or love. So, I returned the ‘kiss’.
“If Otis is your new father, that makes Deryl your brother, right?”
Isthia gave a form of a cringe. “I wish it wasn’t right, but yes. I really don’t like him but I do respect him, merely because he’s one of the pod. I’m glad I have you now.”
We swam silently, mostly in big circles, for a few more minutes. “You were talking about the things you were going to teach me, about being a dolphin. When does the next one start?”
Isthia grinned to me. “Right now. Come on!”
***

She was fast! I guess she was in a hurry to get me to where she was going to teach me.
“Where are we going?” I was almost out of breath! I had to resurface nearly ever twenty seconds.
“Gregory, when you were swimming off from the sharks, I was impressed by you speed, even though your body and muscles were relatively new. I can teach you everything else, but first we have to work on your speed and agility, it ties in with the rest of the lessons. I want what’s best for you, but I’m not that fast compared to others. I know someone who is, though.”
I could hear Isthia scan the water, occasionally turning another way with me trailing behind her. If she’s slow I must really be sluggish!
After some time, Isthia stopped scanning and let out her signature whistle. This was answered by another whistle, that was faint in the distance.
“You knew where this other dolphin was? How?”
“It’s from your echolocation. Don’t worry, I’ll teach you.”
The dolphin began to swim up to us. As she approached, I realized that this dolphin was part of the pod, since she looked much like a younger version of Isthia. “Hi Sis, I’m glad you’re back!” She was really young but obviously a mature dolphin.
Isthia and her sister greet-rubbed each other. Isthia turned back to me. “This is Gregory. I found him back at the other island. Otis let him become part of the pod because he’s my new mate!”
“That’s great!” She moved close to me and rubbed her beak against mine. “I’m Spinner, Isthia’s younger sister. I‘m surprised Otis let you in, but then again he‘s not one to follow rules exactly.”
Like humans, dolphins have a distinct personality that show on them. All dolphins have that usual grin, but like Deryl they can still seem menacing with it. Spinner seemed to have an outgoing and friendly personality, a good contrast from her brother.
“Spinner,” Isthia clicked, grabbing her sister’s attention, “Gregory was is bad shape when I found him. He doesn’t remember much, just about how he was orphaned.” Did she just wink? “He didn’t even know how to swim very well when I found him. He needs to be rehabilitated, maybe even improved, from his original state. You’re the fastest of the pod, so could you teach him about agility and speed?”
Spinner looked back to me. “What’s wrong? Didn’t you get an instinct on how to use you’re instincts?” I looked at her a bit defensively. She began to rub me again, now with a calmer attitude. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. I don’t know what you had to go through that would make you forget how to swim, but I wasn’t trying to be rude. I was just being friendly, that’s all. Sure, I’ll teach him.”
We lined up side by side. Spinner began to explain the lesson. “Now, you see that rock over there, Gregory? First off, I want to see what you can do. Swim to it, around, and then come back here. Try to go as fast as you can but not enough to break a flipper!” She uttered the twittering giggle similar to Isthia’s, “It’s fine though. Even at how fast I swim I still haven’t had that happen.”
So, I did what she wanted. As I rounded back, Spinner’s mood had changed and now she seemed serious. I tried not to be offended since that obviously wasn’t Spinner’s intended feeling, but it was hard. Was I really that bad?
“Well, you do remind me of my sister a bit!” She dodged Isthia who playfully tried to nibble her flukes. “I have another plan. This time, I’ll come with you, and try your best to replicate my moves.”
Take two: It was much better than the first. Isthia told