The Lost Dolphin

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents 

·      Chapter 1- Lauren

 

·      Chapter 2- The Lost Dolphin

 

·      Chapter 3- Adventures in the Caribbean

 

·      Chapter 4- The Discovery

 

·      Chapter 5- Departing

 

 

 

 

 

               Lauren

 

In the British Virgin Islands, a family of dolphins lived at the Caribbean. There was a dad dolphin named Albert. A mom named Rita. A baby boy dolphin, Tyler. And, finally a 9 year old girl dolphin, Bella. One hot, summer day Bella spotted a boat. “Don’t go near boats” Rita always said.

But, this boat was special; there was a little girl, around Bella’s age on the boat. When her parents were not looking, Bella swam up to the boat. But, right before she got there a net got caught on her flipper. “Squeak, squeak!” The little girl helped her out of the net.

“Hi, I’m Lauren” the little girl said. “B-b-b-bella” Bella shivered. “You can talk” Lauren exclaimed. Bella nodded. “Hungry?” Lauren asked. Bella nodded again. “Be right back” Lauren said. She came back with some seaweed. “Went snorkeling yesterday and found this.” “Will you be here tomorrow?” Bella asked, as she munched on the seaweed.

“Yes, but I will be traveling there” Lauren pointed at a small island in the distance. “Let me go ask my parents if we could go closer to your boat when it leaves tomorrow” Bella said. But when she turned around, they were not there.

 

The Lost Dolphin

Bella searched and searched and called out: “Mom, Dad, Baby Tyler!” But they did not call back. She swam back to Lauren. “My family is gone!” she cried. “Oh!” Lauren exclaimed. “I’m so sorry… maybe I can take care of you, you can follow my boat every day until you find your family!”

“Ok, but where will I sleep?” Bella asked. “Some where underwater?” Lauren suggested. “Um… sure, let me see if there’s a cave I can sleep in.” Bella dived underwater. She found something big and brown. When she got closer, she found it was a cave. She scared the fish out of it, and then came up. “Found a cave” Bella said breathlessly.

“Ok, good. Here’s some seaweed for dinner, and some for breakfast, if you don’t want to come up for food” Lauren said, handing her the seaweed. “Thank you for everything” Bella told Lauren. “No problem” Lauren replied. “See you tomorrow” Bella said, as she dived into the water. “You too” said Lauren.

But, as Bella rested on a rock in the cave, she thought: ‘maybe leaving my family wasn’t so good!’ And with this thought still in her head, fell asleep.

 

 

Adventures in the Caribbean

 

 The next day, Bella woke to find a big group of bubbles in front of her cave. She then realized that those bubbles came from a boat engine… Lauren’s boat engine! She came up from under the water to find Lauren sitting on a trampoline. “Lauren” Bella squeaked. “Hi Bella” she said. “Eat any breakfast?” “No, I ate it all for dinner” Bella said, blushing. “Ok, I’ll get you something, I’ll be right back” Lauren said.

She came back with something called bacon bits. “Here try these” Lauren said. “Good” Bella said, munching on them. “Ok, we’re leaving” Lauren said. “Just follow us.” The whole morning, Bella followed the boat, every once in a while taking a break. Finally, the boat slowed down & stopped. Lauren came back to Bella and asked what she wanted to do.

Bella shrugged. “I know, I’ll snorkel with you, let me go get my gear” Lauren said, running off. She came back with a funny mask, a life jacket, and funny looking shoes which looked like long duck feet. “Let’s go” Lauren said. She dived into the water. The rest of the day they explored the underwater, finding corals, fish, and rocks.

Finally they both came up from underwater and Lauren said, “It’s getting late, let’s get back to the boat.” And they swam back to the boat. After Lauren had dried off, she gave Bella some seaweed. “I found this underwater today.” “Thanks, goodnight” Bella said. “Goodnight” Lauren replied. Bella swam down underwater to a new cave she found and ate her seaweed. Her head aching fell asleep.

***

 The next few days, Bella and Lauren went to places like Bitter End and Monkey Point, each time snorkeling together. They even spotted an eel once. And still, Lauren continued to treat Bella like a baby, and was always very nice to her. On one sunny day, Bella came back from underwater. “My last day here” Lauren said glumly.

“Awwww” Bella exclaimed. “I know… let me go get my snorkeling gear” Lauren sighed, and ran off. All of a sudden, Bella spotted something in the distance. She swam closer… it couldn’t be, a family of dolphins? But when she swam closer… she couldn’t believe it… it was Rita, Albert, and Baby Tyler.

 

The Discovery

“Mom, Dad, Tyler!” Bella called out. “Bella!” Rita shouted. She swam closer to Bella and hugged her. “Where have you been?” she asked.  “Swimming with boats?” Albert suggested. “Yes… but there’s a really nice girl on the boat! I want you guys to meet her!” Bella said. “No Bella, you’re grounded.” Rita said. “I know I am… just please come meet her” Bella whinned.

“Oh all right” Rita said. They all swam to Lauren. Baby Tyler backed away when he saw Lauren’s snorkeling gear. “Hey, is this your family, did you find them?” Lauren asked. “Yes” Bella said. “Great job finding them.” Lauren said, congratulating Bella. “Um… thanks” Bella said.

“Would you like to go swimming with us?” Lauren asked Rita, Albert, and Tyler. “Please, please, please” Bella begged. “Bella, this is going too far” Rita said. “Oh mom please!” Bella pleaded. Albert and Rita had a long conversation, and then finally Rita sighed and said, “All right, we’ll go.” “Yay!” Bella said. “You’re still grounded” Albert said

“I know” Bella replied. “Ok, then let’s go” Lauren said, and she slipped into the cold water.

 

 

Departing

            In the beginning Rita, Albert, and Tyler were uncomfortable swimming with Lauren. But they got used to it, and soon found many new fish, coral, and rocks. When they came back from underwater, a few hours later, Rita said, “I guess you were right, Bella that was fun!” “Yeah” Baby Tyler agreed. “Yep” said Albert.

            Bella looked over at Lauren, who was climbing out of the water. Bella followed her. “I’ll be right back” Lauren said, and came back with a towel. She wrapped it around herself. “Well this is it” Lauren said. “What is?” Bella asked. “I’m leaving today, remember?” “Oh yeah.” All of a sudden the boat engine roared to life. “I’ve got to go!” Lauren said.

They hugged for a long time, and then Lauren turned around. “Bye” Bella squeaked. “Bye” Lauren called out, and ran to the back of the boat. Bella watched as the boat sailed away. Tears fell down her eyes. Albert, Rita, and Baby Tyler swam over to Bella. “What’s wrong?” Albert asked. “Lauren’s gone, she just left” Bella said sadly. There was a sad moment of silence, and then Baby Tyler asked, “When will she be back?”

“Probably soon” Bella guessed. There was another moment of silence. “We should get home” said Rita, facing Albert. “This way” he said. They followed Albert all the way home. When Bella swam into her family underwater cave, she rested on a rock, similar to the one she rested on when she was lost. She thought of all the happy times she had with Lauren. Yawning, she fell asleep.

Bella dreamed of Lauren, herself, Albert, Rita, and Baby Tyler swimming happily underwater together. And, still Bella missed Lauren, but she knew Lauren would come back soon and she smiled happily to herself and soon was back to dreaming happy dreams.