Kaley's Dolphin

Author: Rachel
From: Heyworth, USA
Age: 13
Date: 19th May 1999, 5:19 AM
Rating: 5
Comment:
Title: Kaley's Dolphin

Page 1


"Kaley! Hurry up!" Jarod yelled up to his sister. Kaley and Jarod were going to their grandparents’ for the summer. Their grandfather was a marine mammal researcher and Kaley and Jarod were very excited to go. Kaley remembered three summers ago when they spent the summer there. She had gone out to the dock. Their grandparents lived next to the ocean. They had bought some property so Ken, their grandfather, could research whales and dolphins on his boat and then bring the results back to the lab. Anyway, she had gone out to the dock and wasn’t really planning to do anything. But then she saw it. A beautiful animal leaped into the air. It had beautiful smooth looking skin. There were white and gray stripes running along its sleek, thin body. There was one big stripe on top and a smaller white strip below that one, which extended to its underside. Kaley’s gasped at the site. It dived gracefully back into the water. Quickly her gaze jumped from the sky to the water. She searched frantically for one last glimpse o
" This is our secret okay, dolphin?" she didn’t care if it could understand her. She loved this dolphin already. But it was getting dark.
" I’d better go. Please, come see me tomorrow. I’ll be alone all day tomorrow. Jarod, my brother, is going with Grandpa to a baseball game and Grandma’s going somewhere with her girlfriends. Please come back." She stood up and waved goodbye to the dolphin and turned to go. She gave one last glance and watched as the dolphin swam off into the sunset. Kaley saw the dolphin many more times that summer and it came to the dock everyday to see her. And every evening Kaley saw the same picture, her newfound friend swimming off into the sunset.

Page 2

" KALEY! KALEY! COME ON!" ‘ Oh boy, now he’s mad!’ Kaley thought. Jarod was so touchy. She had been so caught up in her flashback she forgot about him yelling once already. She grabbed her two bags and her new A Field Guide to Spotting Dolphins and pounded down the stairs. Her mother had let her buy the book at the mall two days before. They were there picking up last minute essentials for the trip. She already knew what kind of dolphin Sunny was. She named him that because she always saw him leave swimming in to the sunset. He was an Atlantic White-sided dolphin. She also knew he was a boy because of his anal and genital openings were not in one line. A female’s is one line. She figured this out once when he jumped. Grandpa had had some books on dolphins so she researched Sunny. Jarod said she was a disgusting freak for knowing that stuff, but that was okay because she thought Jarod was a disgusting word she wasn’t allowed to say, which is probably much worse than a freak. Anyway, Atlantic white-sided dolphi
" It’s about time! C’mon Kaley, and I call shotgun." Jarod ran out the front door and threw his stuff in the open trunk. Kaley watched him, and then turned to her dad.
" Bye dad! I’ll miss you! I’ll try to call every night okay? And I’ll write!" Kaley’s mom was driving them all the way to Massachusetts from Ohio. Her dad didn’t want to make the trip and he had to work anyway.
" Alright. I’ll miss you too. But don’t run up grandpa and grandma’s phone bill. Here, are already addressed envelopes to our house. Have fun and be careful. Don’t swim at night. Wear sunscreen. Mind your grandparents. Don’t fight with Jarod. Write. 20-25 minute calls to us only. Have fun. Brush your teeth. Don’t stay up to late. Don’t disturb your grandparents’ sleep. Be polite. Say please and thank-you. Take pictures. And above all DO NOT use grandma’s $55 4th of July turkey to feed your dolphin. Okay?"
" Wow! Dad! 3rd degree is not necessary. And besides that was only one time and I did it 3 years ago. I was young, crazy, and spontaneous. Besides, Sunny likes Grandpa’s $66 fish better." Kaley replied slyly.
" Kaley!" her father said warningly.
" Just kidding! Bye! Love you!" she called as she headed out the door. Her mother smiled at her husband and followed Kaley out the door.
Page 3

" We’re here! Kaley, wake up!" Jarod yelled at his sister. Kaley slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Sure enough she saw the familiar landscape of her grandparents’ property. And there were her grandparents sitting on the porch drinking iced tea. They waved. Kaley waved back. Jarod was already out of the car and had his bags in hand. Kaley jumped out of the car and grabbed her things too. She took a deep breath in. The air was fresh and smelled sweet. She looked out at the ocean. ‘ It’s good to be back.’ She thought. Quickly she ran up to meet her grandparents’. ‘ This is going to be a great summer.’ She thought. Had she known what would happen, she might have thought twice about that statement.
Page 4

The bright sun shone into Kaley’s room and splashed onto her face. She groaned and rolled over. She stared at her alarm clock. 7:30. Well, she had better get up. She didn’t want all the pancakes to be gone. Jarod was probably already up and had eaten. In the summers when they came here Jarod went over to his best friend’s every morning. His best friend, Nathan, lived about a mile from their grandparents’ house. Kaley smiled as she walked down the hall. She could smell the pancakes already. She turned left right before the stairs to peek into Jarod’s room. Nope! HE was still in there. ‘ Surprising!’ Kaley thought. When she entered the kitchen she smiled at her grandma and said,
" Good morning! I’ll have just two. I’m not really hungry."
" Alright, honey. What are you going to do today?" she asked
" I’m going to go see if Sunny will come back. I’m going to blow my whistle and see if he’s still here."
" You trained him to do that? How?"
" Well, it took me all summer. Three years ago, you know. First, I had to establish a trainer dolphin relationship-trust thing. Then, I skipped a step. I read that once you become friends you send the dolphin to a lab or tank. But that is just cruel. I read dolphins can commit suicide by slamming against the side of tanks if they don’t like captivity."
" OH MY!" her grandma cried," That’s awful."
‘ I know!" Kaley continued," Then we just played around. I threw a ball to him and he would hit it back. He loves that game. And one day he just started ‘walking" on his tail. Well, I had never seen him do that before and I got scared. I just blew the whistle and splashed and stuff to get him to stop. After a while he learned that whistle meant "stop" or "come back". So we practiced that. And of course there are the jumps and leaps. I just told him to "leap" or "jump" and after a while he caught onto that, too. And so we practiced that all summer. It took about three months, which is the average time to train a dolphin the basics." By the time Kaley was done talking she was finished, so she excused herself and set out to see if Sunny would come back. She could hardly stand the excitement.
Page 5

As she neared the dock she looked out to the ocean to see if there was any sign of Sunny. Nope. So she stood at the end of the dock and blew her whistle hard. She paused. No sign. Once again she blew. Wait, what was that? She saw something bolt toward her. It did a giant leap and Kaley cried,
" SUNNY!" she knew it was him by one mark on the underside of his belly.
" SUNNY! You’re back! This is great." She opened her arms in a circle. He jumped up and she hugged him. Ball maybe his favorite game, but the hug trick is her favorite. This summer Kaley decided she was going to swim with him. She took off her shirt, but left her pants on. They matched her bright green bathing suit.
" Sunny, back." She motioned for him to back off. She just waved her arms in a "shooing motion." Sunny got up on his tail and walked backwards and then dived backwards. He stayed back. He was trained to until she blew the whistle, which meant "come back." She slid slowly into the cool water. Even though she trusted Sunny she was nervous. When she was finally in, she put the whistle up to her mouth. Quietly and shakingly, she blew the whistle. Sunny came swimming back, but as if he knew her nervousness he returned slowly. She petted his head and gave him a kiss.
" Okay Sunny, show me your stuff." She grabbed his dorsal fin with her right hand and paddled with her other hand. She gave him the command for "swim." He started to swim fast and Kaley got scared. She screamed and let go. She blew the whistle and Sunny returned. How was she supposed to teach him to swim slowly? Swimming was a natural trick or talent, not learned. Actually, he had many natural talents such as: leaping, breeching, spy hopping, (where they stand on their tails. It is used for looking into boats. They are very curious about boats.) walking, somersaults, splashing, moving in a spiral, and swimming upside-down, or on his back. ‘ Oh well, she thought, I don’t need to teach him today.’ She swam back to the dock and climbed up. For the rest of the day the two pals played. And then when it got darker, Sunny swam off into the sunset, but not without giving his trainer a kiss first. ‘ Well, that was a great first day.’ Kaley thought, ‘ I wonder what tomorrow will bring.’
Page 6

The next morning Kaley didn’t get up until 11:00.
" WOW! I had better get out to see Sunny." She got dressed quickly and raced downstairs. Her grandma was sitting on the couch, looking upset. Kaley didn’t notice. She grabbed some cold toast that was on the counter and she ran out the door shouting,
" Bye grandma! Goin’ to see Sunny!"
" OH NO! Honey, wait!" But it was too late. Kaley was out the door.
When she reached the dock she blew her whistle. She waited and then blew it again. ‘ I wonder what he’s doing.’ She blew the whistle several more times. When he didn’t respond she got worried. She looked out over the calm waters. ‘ Hmmmm. Where is he?’ Suddenly, her grandmother appeared behind her.
" Grandma! I can’t get Sunny to come. Do you think he’s mad at me? Because when dolphins get mad at their trainers they go on kind of a strike and won’t play.’
" No, honey. He’s not mad at you. He won’t come because he’s not out there."
" What? Grandma, of course he is. If he’s not out there where is he?" Kaley looked at her grandmother confused.
" Honey, this morning your grandfather and some of his workers took Sunny to the lab and put him in a tank. They were fascinated with the way you worked with him. They wanted to examine him and…..oh, honey I’m sorry. I tried to reason with him, but your grandfather is a stubborn man. I’m sorry." Kaley stared at her grandmother speechless. Tears welled in her eyes. She tried to blink them away, but more kept coming.
" NOOOOO!!" That was the only word she could muster. Kaley ran up to the house. Her grandmother watched as she stood in the driveway hunched over. Then, her grandmother saw Kaley get into the backseat of the car. She knew immediately what Kaley wanted. She ran to the house to get her keys and drove Kaley to the lab.
Page 7

Once to the lab, Kaley jumped out of the car and raced for the door. She pulled it open and ran inside. She had been here before and didn’t wait for her grandmother. She ran straight and then there was a fork. She turned right, then left, then straight for a while and then right again. Finally, she reached the door of the aquarium. You could enter the aquarium another shorter way, but you must be on a tour or have a key. She raced in the door and her eyes searched the large, large room. The small marine mammals and fish were all along the wall and continued down a hall to the left a little ways. The bigger tanks for the research dolphins and whales were at the back of the room behind a door. This door led to an even bigger room with the dolphins and whales. Kaley walked quickly to the door and opened it. Once inside she saw Sunny immediately. Her grandfather along with other men were crowded around a tank. She ran over to it and pushed her way through. She gasped when she saw Sunny.
They had him on a cot, which would lift him up to the surface of the 14-foot tank every 25 seconds. She had heard of this. Some dolphins hate captivity so much they stop swimming, eating, breathing, and playing all together. This was another form of suicide. The tears came flooding back to her.
" Sunny! Oh, Sunny!" she yelled. The tears poured down her face now and she didn’t bother to wipe them away. She stuck her hand in the tank and splashed it around. He didn’t respond. She blew her whistle and cried his name more. There was no response from him at all.
" Sunny! Please! Sunny! I didn’t do this to you! Answer me! Please! Sunny!" Kaley was in hysterics now. Her sobs were loud and anguished. How could her grandfather do this to her? How?
" Grandpa! This is your fault! This is your fault he is mad at me!" she yelled at him through sobs, " Why? Why? You should have left him alone! He hates it here! I know Sunny and no matter what you try to do to help him it won’t work! He will never accept it here! And now, thanks to you and your horrible research plan he might not ever accept me again!" Kaley couldn’t help but yell at him. She was so raging mad. She gave her grandfather one last saddened look before she fled the room.
Page 8

Kaley went home with her grandmother only after she promised to bring Kaley back tomorrow. Kaley went to bed without supper and cried herself to sleep.
The next morning Kaley and her grandmother returned to the lab. But when they reached the door to the whale and dolphin room a man standing there would not let them in.
" I’m sorry we are not permitting any visitors today, ma’am."
" I’m not a visitor. I am the trainer of the dolphin in there and I demand entrance!" Kaley said.
" No ma’am. Trainer or not, no entrance!" he replied irritated.
" Move! I’m entering!" Kaley yelled. Suddenly they heard a loud thud. And then again. And even a third time.
" What’s happening?" her grandmother asked. Kaley looked through the window on the door, despite the directions of the guard.
" The men are surrounding Sunny’s tank." Again they heard a loud thud.
" Stop him! Quick! Put him on the cot! He’ll kill himself! Hurry now!" came the muffled voices of the men.
" What is going on?" she cried frantically.
" Oh no! Quick! There’s blood, here." Kaley didn’t wait to hear the end of it. She opened the door and rushed. The guard came after her. She looked into the tank. Blood oozed from a large wound on Sunny’s head. Her eyes began to sting and they welled with tears. She ran to Sunny’s side and put her hand in the water. He was on the cot. Her face was streaming with tears and her hands were sweaty. She petted his head. She tried to say something to comfort him, but the words were stuck in her throat. She just kept petting him and let her tears drop into the water. The men were silent as they watched her. The guard touched her hand, but she shook him off. Finally, her grandmother stepped forward.
" Come on honey. Well, Ken you wanted to see her in action with her dolphin in the lab. Here she is. But, not the way you planned it, huh? Well, nature had a plan for this dolphin before you did. Nature’s plan was to leave it in the ocean where it belongs. Where it can live happily. There are plenty of dolphins in tanks already. You can ask those scientists for the results, because you won’t be getting your own. Put this dolphin back, Ken! Do it for the dolphin’s life and for Kaley’s because right now neither of them are living to well without each other. Come on Kaley." She stormed out of the lab with Kaley at her side.
Page 9

One month later

Kaley sat on the dock and blew her whistle. Her mother would be here to pick Jarod and her up any minute. She hadn’t seen Sunny since that day at the lab. She blew it again. Nothing. She had come out here everyday to blow the whistle. Nothing, everyday. She sighed heavily and stood up.
‘Face it Kaley, he’s not coming back. And you have your wonderful grandfather to thank.’ She looked toward the driveway. There was her mother’s van pulling in. She turned back to the water and began to cry. She missed Sunny. He was her best friend. She blew her whistle once last final time. She blew it with all her might. She blew out all her anger and sadness. Kaley took the whistle from around her neck. She pulled her arm back and hurled it as hard as she could. She watched quietly as it landed far out in the water. There was no use for a whistle if your dolphin hates you. The tears kept coming, but this time she did stop them. ‘ Kaley, it’s over. Now’s the time to toughen up and stop the crying.’ She turned toward the house and took one step. But then, she heard a splash and she spun around. There in the dim afternoon light was Sunny. She gave out a small cry of joy. She knelt down on the dock and touched him. She opened her arms into a circle and he jumped up for a hug just as he had on the very first day
" We’ve been through a lot together." She said.
" KALEY! WE’VE GOT TO GO HONEY!" her mother yelled from the driveway. She turned and waved at her mother.
" I have to go, Sunny. I will miss you. I might not be back next summer. Grandpa’s mad at me. Big time. I ruined his whole career really. The lab fired him because of some deal about keeping family private. I don’t know when I’ll be back. But when I do come back I expect a warm greeting. Goodbye Sunny." She kissed him and stood up to leave. Suddenly, he let out a high pitched screech. He had never done that to her before. She turned and smiled. She walked up to the house. Kaley turned for one last look and saw Sunny swimming off into the sunset.
Page 10

Epilogue

Kaley came back three summers later. She asked about Sunny and found he had been taken back to the lab. But, to her surprise he was doing fine. He had had a trainer teach him new tricks. In addition to his old tricks he could now ring a bell, blow a bike horn, jump through a flaming hoop, and "sing." She was allowed to help train and he was MUCH happier when she was there. Her grandpa was re-hired and he has forgiven her. She has also forgiven him and looks forward to coming back each summer to see Sunny.
Page 11

Bibliography

Happy Dolphins by Sam Carter

Dolphins by Michael Bright

Dolphins: Our Friends of the Sea a National Geographic Book

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