Dolphins

I was sitting on the end of the dock, picking a splinter out of my foot and cussing quietly under my breath. I hadn’t been able to resist taking my boots off and padding down the length of the dock in my bare feet. The weathered boards had felt good beneath my feet, reminding me of pleasant times in my childhood. It had felt good, that is, until the weathered boards got rough and shoved a splinter in my poor defenseless foot. Darn boards! It wasn’t my fault at all, of course- just the boards. I was feeling very put upon and tense and cranky.

 

Anyway, I was sitting there picking the splinter out of my foot when I heard someone come up behind me. Whoever it was wore boots - I guess they knew how mean the boards could be. I turned around and saw a pair of canvas trousers going up, and then a set of strong looking hands holding some packages, and finally a grinning face. It was the ferry woman from last night. She must just be coming back from her night runs. “I see you’re a bit of a tenderfoot!” she laughed.

 

“It’s not me, it’s these boards! They were out to get me!” I said.

 

“Yah, that’s what they all say.” She abruptly changed the subject. “Be here tonight, just after dusk. I’ll take you over to the Isle of Ancestors.” She turned and walked away, her boots clomping down the dock. At the end of the dock she turned and called, “The dolphin baths are a nice way to spend your morning. You might go and see if the dolphins are in today!” Then she disappeared into the village.

 

 I put my boots back on and went to see the woman at the dolphin baths. The thought of soaking a morning away, after all the traveling I have been doing lately, was irresistible. The dolphins were the icing on the cake.

 

When I checked in at the baths, the woman who handed me a towel told me that yes, indeed, the dolphins were there today, and they looked ready to play. Play, I thought. Hmm. I wanted to relax, but I didn’t know about play.

 

I got undressed, leaving my clothes in a basket, and started to hurry across the wet tiles. I slowed down to look at the pattern they made. It was soothing, geometric, in watery colors. The air was damp and warm. I could hear the dolphins splashing and chattering at each other at the far end of the pool. I put my towel down in a dry place and slipped into the water. It was a little cooler than I had expected, but the air was so warm in here that it felt good. The salt water lapped gently at my skin and stung the bottom of my foot where I had picked out most, but not all, of the splinter. I eased down into the water and let my feet drift up as I relaxed. It was so easy to float in the buoyant salt water! My entire body relaxed and I listened to the dolphins playing through the distortions of the water. Sounds are always strange under the water.

 

I must have floated there for about five minutes before the dolphins came up to me. It was long enough to relax me thoroughly; they allowed me that. When they came, it was silently, sliding along beneath the surface without a ripple to give them away. I felt one rubbery snout nudge me and then another. There were soon quite a few of them all nudging and poking at me. Finally they were tickling me. I started to laugh, and twisted over to look around. They had nudged me all the way to the other end of the pool. Now they danced around me chattering and clicking- laughing dolphin laughs. I was treading water since the pool was quite deep here.

 

One of them brought out a bright blue ring and tossed it. It sank and one of the other dolphins swam after it, catching it before it hit the bottom. Then it brought up the ring and tossed it. They continued this and I began to see a pattern of who tossed and who caught it. It was like a game of dolphin frisbee.

 

Suddenly, they were all looking at me- it was my turn.  The dolphin with the ring dropped it. I dove after it, but I am no dolphin, and couldn’t swim quickly enough to catch it. Then a shape swam up to me. I saw a dorsal fin being offered and grabbed it. The dolphin pulled me through the water like it was nothing and I grabbed the blue ring. We bobbed back up and I held the ring triumphantly aloft. Then I too tossed the ring for the next one to catch. We played this for a while, like a bunch of little kids at the community pool and then all of them but one raced off.

 

The dolphin who had helped me stayed behind and offered her fin again. I grabbed it and we took off through the water very quickly. We raced around the pool and then down into the water. Just when my breath was about to give out, she surfaced and off we went again. The next trip down I let go and swam by myself for a few moments with the dolphin swimming beside me. Then I grabbed her fin again and she pulled me up.

 

Finally she brought me back to the shallow part of the pool and floated there gently beside me. I took the hint and started to float again myself. It was even more peaceful this time, with her rubbery body floating beside me, after all the activity we had engaged in.

 

As I drifted both physically and mentally, she began to speak. “Play refreshes the spirit like rest refreshes the body,” she told me. I knew this was true. I do try to remember to play, but reminders, especially when busy-ness drags me along and wears at me, are always good.

 

 The warm water lapped over me and the dolphins all came back one by one and nudged me, and then I was alone. I lay there in the water a time longer, until my skin was very wrinkly

 

 As I dragged my soggy self out of the water, I realized that my foot didn’t hurt any more. The splinter had worked its way out and was gone. I was refreshed and ready for the rest of the day- and night. As I dried off and dressed again, my skin soft from the salty water, I was glad I had come and played for a while. The dolphins were right. Play refreshes the spirit.

 

Posted by She Wolf