I walked across the warm sand, looking at the sparkling waters, and I saw something out of the corner of my eye. My mom screamed, “Hazel! Come here!” I ignored her. What was the thing on the shore? I rushed past everyone on the beach and gasped. I yelled, “MOM,” on the top of my lungs, but realised that she was far away and heading to the hotel. I took out my Ipad and made a call to my dad.
“Dad, I found a dolphin on the beach! Come fast! Are you going to put it in our aquarium Clearwater Marine Aquarium?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” he yelled. “I am coming now!”
I told the watchers to go away since there will be an ambulance coming. I knew the drill: brush away the sand near the dolphin and pour water on it.
It looked like a female, but I was not completely sure. Suddenly, I heard a girl shouting, so I turned around. What a surprise! A girl about my age: ten!
“Hey, an ambulance is coming. It is my dad’s,” I said. “What is your name?” I continued to ask questions as I poured water on the dolphin’s body.
“Jade,” she responded, “and I recognize you from a mall I went to,” she said coolly.
“Wanna be my friend? I have none and I am homeschooled. I am the daughter of an owner of an aquarium. My mom is an assistant,” I said, seriously. Jade looked at me and the dolphin in awe.
“Well, sure. I am about the same. I am homeschooled and both of my parents are bosses at JP Morgan, a company that codes.”
In the middle of our conversation, I heard a strong, bold “Hazel” behind me. I turned around and it was my dad, without an ambulance, only a stretcher.
“Why do…” I said terrified.
“Hazel, we had another dolphin to rescue. I am the only one here. You and your new friend have to help me.”
I looked at Jade shyly. She was making a call to her dad and was talking so fast I did not know what she was saying. She turned to me and I said, “I am Hazel White, and my dad Mr. White.” We picked up the dolphin and, luckily, the ambulance arrived. We loaded the dolphin inside and I said goodbye to Jade. “Wait!” she said, a little grey. “Let’s add each other on messenger!” I quickly added her and for the last time said goodbye. As dad, Erica (the person who also took care of the dolphins), and Rick (the ambulance driver and transporter) kept quiet, I thought of a dolphin name. “Dad?” I quietly asked. “What?” he asked, trying to sound calm, even though I knew he was panicking. “Is it a girl? If she is, can I name her Shona?”
“Yes and yes, Hazel,” he responded in a voice with a little pride in it. I went to the dolphin in the back of the ambulance and whispered, “Hey, Shona. I am going to be your new friend. Please survive! One of your fins looks badly infected, so please eat. We do not want more trouble with dolphins.”
Later that night, I went to my room,and went to sleep since, knowing that Shona would be fine. The next morning, I woke up with the shocking news that Shona’s fin had to be cut off. I went to my room and started texting Jade. She did not respond, so I went to see the dolphin. I was shocked, but then a horrible thought hit me: How will she move around properly? She is like Winter the dolphin!
I saw that there was a response from Jade, but it cut me in the face like a knife . Her text read, “Girl, the truth is that I do not care about dolphins. I was lying. I am the most popular girl in school. As I said before, I do not care about dolphins.” I cried in my room. This girl is so unfair! I ran to Shona (my house is next door to the animal hospital), but discovered that she had disappeared. I saw dad crying in the corner. I ran to him. He said to me “She disappeared, she might have died.” I just said, defeated, “Well, all we have to do is pray: to Shona, the dolphin with one fin!”
“Yeah,yeah, Hazel, you’re right. She was a …”
“SHONA!” I screamed. She was swimming in the pool! “Dad,you trickster!” My mom and dad were laughing so hard that I thought they would explode. I laughed along with them.
I guess my dad taught Shona how to stay underwater for such a long time with one fin…. Very interesting
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