Dedicated to The Dolphins
Submitted by Rebecca
The wind ruffled Erin’s damp curly hair as she sat on the beach watching her friend Hannah snorkel in the clear waters of Kealakekua Bay.
“Come on in, Erin,” Hannah called, as she surfaced. “We didn’t come all the way to Hawaii to just sit and do nothing!”
“I’m not doing nothing,” Erin protested, but she stood up and slipped on her mask before Hannah could question her further. This vacation wasn’t turning out at all like Erin planned. She had imagined coming to Hawaii and meeting the man of her dreams. She watched for him everywhere she went, but he was nowhere to be found.
Erin slipped into the water and joined Hannah, who eagerly showed her a school of beautiful tropical fish. Erin pretended to be more enthused than she was so as not to disappoint her friend, who was apparently getting much more out of this vacation than she was.
Erin suddenly sensed a presence behind her. Turning in the water, she saw a large dark creature swimming toward her. Was it a shark? Erin’s heart began to race as she tried to remember how to prevent a shark from attacking. She’d just read it in the guidebook the night before.
The creature drew closer, and as it glided gracefully through the water, its eye met Erin’s. It was a dolphin! Now Erin’s heartbeat quickened from excitement rather than fear. She was mesmerized by its beauty as it swam past her, then turned, and swam past her again. It seemed to be beckoning her.
Erin slowly began to swim in the direction the dolphin was headed, moving carefully so as not to frighten it. Again and again, the dolphin turned and gazed into her eyes as if to make sure she was still following.
Now the dolphin brushed against Erin’s body, then circled around her, and brushed up against her again. Erin slowly reached out her hand to touch the dolphin. A tour guide on a boat yesterday had advised against touching dolphins if they encountered any in the water, but Erin couldn’t resist.
The dolphin looked into Erin’s eyes again. He seemed to like her touch. Erin stroked the dolphin’s side again, and he brushed against her. The pair interacted for what seemed like hours, but must have been only minutes, until Erin could hear Hannah calling her off in the distance.
Sadly she turned to swim back to shore. The dolphin swam with her much of the way. At last, Erin turned and looked at the dolphin as if to say she was sorry, but she had to leave. The dolphin gazed back with a look of understanding, and turned to swim back out into the sea.
Everything seemed surreal, and Erin barely heard as Hannah chattered away about the fish she’d seen. She’d come to Hawaii to meet her true love. Well, she had fallen in love, and the feeling was more exhilarating than she could ever have imagined.