Ripple

by Tui Allen

  When Matangi announced the coming of spring, Aroha suddenly thought of her sisters. Her longing to see them grew as the storm faded.

  ~~~

  Read on, or if desired . . .

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  Chapter 23: Sparkle of Energy

  The height of the waves diminished and their speed decreased; rare fingers of sunlight touched the queasy sea. Rigel’s group was still near Squelch’s old hole, feeding on reef fish which seemed more plentiful. Other dolphins appeared from various directions as the main school began to re-group.

  A long-distance thoughtstream arrived in Ripple’s brain. She glanced at Echo and saw that she’d received it too. It was from Aroha.

  ‘Echo, it’s the baby!’ said Ripple. ‘Where’s mother? Oh, we must help Aroha ourselves.’

  ‘Aroha, we’re coming,’ streamed Echo.

  The girls reported Aroha’s message to the males and all six set off at full speed to the north-east.

  ‘You might be of some help to her, Echo,’ said Ripple as they swam. ‘But what use will I be? She needs an aunty like Breeze. What if Breeze didn’t survive the winter?’

  Echo messaged Aroha. ‘Who is with you?’

  ‘Breeze is here,’ came sifting back to them. Ripple calmed.

  They arrived at Aroha’s side two hours later.

  ‘You’ve changed, Echo,’ said Aroha. ‘You remind me of Mother.’

  ‘You’re to be the mother now,’ said Echo.

  Aroha is thin, thought Ripple. Her eyes are dull and she’s lost her vigour like all of us.

  Breeze was coaching the baby.

  ‘Does it know what to do?’ asked Echo.

  ‘I’m confident she understands,’ said Breeze.

  She, thought Ripple.

  ‘Not long now,’ said Breeze, ‘Guard please? We need vigilance.’

  The four males from Rigel’s group joined Matangi’s family and all dispersed on predator patrol.

  The warning note in Breeze’s voice reminded them all that the first drop of birth blood would bring every winter-starved shark for miles.

  We’re lucky to have Cosmo’s skills today, thought Ripple. I hope he’s careful.

  The females watched and waited. Ripple scanned Aroha’s body and saw the baby positioning for birth.

  Pearl was not there, but Ripple felt her presence in the sunlight shining through a thin mist of cloud onto a silvery sea. She breathed and let the cool air blow through her, let it lift the corner of a dark veil inside her. She looked again at the unborn baby.

  A baby, she thought, a new dolphin who did not exist before. A miracle.

  ‘What’s a miracle?’

  Ripple gaped. The question had come from the baby!

  ‘May I speak to her?’ she asked Breeze.

  ‘Certainly,’ said Breeze, ‘This baby is almost as bad as you were for wanting to communicate.’

  ‘What’s a miracle?’ asked the baby again.

  ‘You are,’ said Ripple.

  ‘I thought I was a dolphin!’

  ‘You are a dolphin and you’re a miracle too. A miracle is something so wonderful you can hardly believe it’s true. Are you ready to be born?’

  ‘Breeze has told me everything. But there’s too much to remember.’

  ‘Relax and listen. All will be well.’

  The baby’s tail appeared soon enough. Aroha kept swimming for some time while the baby emerged little by little and then all in a rush. Once free she shot to the surface, squeaked and complained about the light, wriggled and bounced, was sternly reminded to breathe, insisted she’d already breathed, got confused about who was her mother and followed Ripple by mistake. Ripple laughed for the first time in weeks and swam about with the tiny one in her slipstream. She steered her back towards Aroha. All the females were absorbed in the new arrival.

  Within minutes they heard the vibrations of their nearby guards fighting off sharks which had smelled the blood. The guards must be doing well; no trace of fear or pain escaped from them to worry the birth party.

  ‘What will you call her, Aroha? Who shall inform Rigel he has another female descendant?’

  Aroha named her baby Rikoriko, for the sparkle of energy she emitted. Rikoriko was appreciating her spacious new world.

  ‘Miracle!’ she squealed, ‘Miracle! Miracle! Everything’s a miracle!’

  Ripple had never seen anything so perfect as this miniature dolphin, so smooth and flexible, with eyes and spirit clear and clean. Rikoriko’s own freedom from grief and sorrow banished such burdens from all those who looked at her. Ripple wanted to keep her for herself, but Aroha was also healed by the arrival of Rikoriko and would not allow Ripple to abduct her daughter, although it seemed as if Rikoriko would have been happy to be kidnapped by Ripple. That faded when she tasted her mother’s milk.

  ‘Miracle!’ said Rikoriko at the first sip.

  It became important for Rigel’s family group and Matangi’s to stay together, since Ripple and Echo wished to stay near Aroha for now. It was not difficult; the entire school was now re-grouping, spring having arrived at last, bringing warmer currents, softer breezes, longer days, and ever increasing food supplies.

  Many dolphins had departed Azure during the winter. It was a smaller school that gathered around the Northern islands that spring.

  As the days rolled by, dolphins grieved and slowly healed, classes and vocations resumed. Rigel reunited with his old team who began planning new assaults on the universe.

  Cosmo’s junior astronomy team was also meeting regularly and Delph set much revision. But soon enough he was allowing the boys to make short interstellar voyages within the home galaxy. Then whole days would pass without Ripple or Echo seeing anything of Rush and Cosmo. Meetings, when they happened, were quieter than of old.

  Echo was working hard at her new vocation. She was now in full training with Nimbus so Ripple saw less of her. Ripple’s old classes recommenced but she did not yet join up with the astronomy team to create music. Since her mother’s death she’d returned to the same strange blank music-free world she’d inhabited after her Erishkigal illness.

  Others noticed this. ‘That youngest one of Pearl’s is not as cracked as she used to be,’ they said, ‘The shock of her mother’s death must’ve snapped her out of it. Pearl would be pleased to know her daughter’s becoming normal at last.’

  Aroha no longer saw it that way, however.

  ‘Much as her music bothered me, I preferred the old chaotic Ripple to this incomplete version,’ she thought.

  Ripple filled the gaps in her life by spending every possible moment with Aroha and Rikoriko.

  Very occasionally Ripple would spot a soaring bird, or hear the rush of foam flying on the wind and she’d think of music and feel a momentary longing to be alone and listen to it. But a poisonous vibration inside her always prevented it.

  ~~~

  Soon even Aroha began to take on a little of her old work. One day she went to help another family, which like her own, was having trouble recovering from the loss of loved ones over winter. Matangi had travelled south with his weather team to collect data on currents, so Ripple and Rikoriko were left alone in the main school for a while.

  ‘My favourite slipstream!’ laughed Rikoriko as she slid into Ripple’s.

  Ripple performed a dance routine she’d invented to entertain her niece who loved the unpredictability of Ripple’s lead. Rikoriko did her best to copy.

  ‘Ripple, what’s music?’ Rikoriko asked suddenly.

  In her surprise, Ripple belly-flopped. Rikoriko did too.

  ‘Who told you about music?’

  ‘I heard you thinking about it this morning.’

  ‘You little busybody!’

  ‘But I like music.’

  ‘I don’t believe I just heard that.’

  ‘I like what you like, and you like music.’

  ‘If not for music Rikoriko, my mother might still be alive and you would have a loving grandmother.�
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  ‘I don’t need someone else to love me. But how could music hurt your mother?’

  ‘Because I was making music heedlessly, a bad creature crept up and poisoned me. My mother had to nurse me and she got sick herself and died.’

  ‘Mother told me my Granny died because of something poisonous she ate.’

  ‘Perhaps Aroha’s right.’

  A tight knot, deep inside Ripple, loosened slightly.

  ‘So music is not bad and you can teach me.’

  ‘I can’t. It’s locked inside me. ’

  ‘How can I learn then?’

  ‘The sound games I played at your age are a little like music. Perhaps they’ll do you no harm.’

  ‘How could sounds harm me? Teach me.’

  ‘Listen to the sounds of Azure. Play with them in your mind and see if they form patterns. What can you hear right now if you close your eyes and listen really hard?’

  ‘I heard a rude noise from that boy over there.’

  The eternal joke did not fail to amuse Ripple. But Rikoriko showed the greater maturity on this occasion and was soon describing all the other noises.

  ‘I can hear your heartbeat . . . wind in the froth . . . bubbles popping . . . dolphins scanning for fish . . . a gannet diving.’

  ‘Now try and mix the sounds, to make patterns that are interesting or pretty.’

  Rikoriko closed her eyes and concentrated so hard Ripple could imagine her little brain heating up. ‘You need to relax, Listen easily and let the patterns form. Don’t force anything.’

  Rikoriko relaxed and Ripple knew she was really playing with sounds. But she detected no dangerous longing to seek out some elusive goal, like that which had driven her to discover true music.

  ‘You’re doing well. Keep enjoying the patterns in the sounds around you. That’s a kind of music.’

  Rikoriko promised to keep practising what she’d learnt but Ripple was a little worried about how Aroha might feel about her daughter taking up an activity so closely linked to insanity in the minds of many. So she urged Rikoriko to learn everything her mother wanted her to learn and only to think of music as a hobby. Surely that was harmless enough.

  Strange, thought Ripple later, I gave the first music lesson ever, to a child who has never heard a note of music in her life! I hope I haven’t corrupted her.

  ~~~

  A few days later, Aroha found the first opportunity to leave her baby with Breeze, and after a short consultation with Nimbus, collected Ripple and swam out alone with her.

  ‘Rikoriko has been telling me that you think Mother’s death was because of you.’

  ‘I worry that she died because of my illness. So I do feel responsible.’

  ‘Ripple, I’ve just spoken to Nimbus, who was with Mother at the end. She’s sure you had nothing to do with the sickness.’

  ‘Father said that too, but I still worry,’

  ‘These illnesses happen from time to time. It’s the turning of the universe. It could’ve been something she ate, or it could’ve been something else. Everyone has to die of something. You can’t go on thinking like this. It will stop your life from progressing.’

  The tight knot inside Ripple loosened a little more.

  ‘I want to help you,’ said Aroha. ‘There are therapies I can apply but you must do exactly as I tell you.’

  ‘Will your therapy do anything to my music?’

  ‘Trust me Ripple. I’m only working with zones of your mind I understand well. I only want to clear you of unnecessary negatives. Are you ready?’

  ‘I’m ready.’

  So . . . relax . . . drift . . . breathe . . . let your mind wander . . .’

  Ripple followed every instruction and suggestion as Aroha sent her specialised thoughtstreams weaving into her sister’s subconscious with practiced ease. Ripple floated away from herself and saw the oceans stretching far and wide around them and the school swimming nearby. She saw clouds below, between her and the surface of Azure, and although it was daytime she saw stars and the arm of the galaxy swooping above and all around her until Sol became a tiny speck among millions of other stars. It reminded her of the departure she’d experienced during her illness. Then came a moment of sudden but smooth release, as the knot inside unravelled completely and she soared more lightly through the universe . . . gliding . . . drifting . . . until she heard her sister’s voice calling from far away and she turned in a great arc back towards Azure.

  Ripple’s body leapt to wakefulness.

  ‘Aroha! What did you do?’

  ‘Just a simple therapy. I should’ve used it on you weeks ago. How do you feel?’

  ‘I feel like . . . making music! But I’m too hungry. Let’s hunt.’

  ‘Good, let’s hunt. We can pick up Rikoriko. And I’d best sort out any issues the rest of my family may have. Strange to think I’ve been helping other families and left my own to fend for themselves. Why don’t my family do as other dolphins do and just ask for help when they need it?’

  As they swam Aroha said, ‘Ripple, this might surprise you but I’d really like to think you were making music again. I’ve learnt that you are more whole when you have music in your life.’

  ‘But Aroha, Rikoriko heard me just thinking of music and she asked me to teach her. Don’t worry! I can’t teach her much, since it’s incommunicable. Do you worry I might corrupt her with it?’

  ‘You said “worry” twice then. I thought I’d healed you of it.’

  After this, Ripple began to think more of the conversation she’d had with her father about links to music in unlikely fields of learning. Strangely, the unwelcome subject of mathematics demanded space in her thinking. She made sure she was on time for every mathematics lesson and drank in every detail.

  There was a little spare time at the end of the lesson.

  ‘Any questions?’ asked Axis. ‘Ripple, was everything clear?’

  ‘Yes, thank-you. Echo’s been helping me catch up, but I have a question, May I see you afterwards, Axis?’

  ‘Certainly.’

  Axis had noticed a difference in her since her illness. Not only had she been present in body and mind at every maths lesson but had displayed aptitude. He responded to a last question and dismissed the class.

  Ripple and Axis swam away from the main school towards the deep sea.

  ‘My father thinks mathematics could solve my problem,’ she said.

  ‘His views are worth taking seriously. What problem?’

  ‘Something I wish to share with others. I call it “music” but to others it’s chaos.’

  ‘This music . . . what is it exactly?’

  ‘It’s patterns made from sounds. But I can’t communicate it by thoughtstream.’

  ‘Not surprising. To communicate a sound we must make the sound or describe it. We send ideas by thoughtstream.’

  ‘Shall I demonstrate?’

  ‘Go ahead.’

  She streamed a few seconds of sunrise music.

  Axis had heard of her chaos, but was surprised by the reality.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘It is as chaotic as they say.’

  ‘But now,’ Ripple said, ‘I wonder if it might be possible to describe my music mathematically – by its levels of volume, pitch and timing of the sounds – then use this to communicate it?’

  Axis digested this. They swam on under bright blue sky with towering summer clouds. The sea was as clear as the air above it but deep sapphire in colour. He spoke at last.

  ‘I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. If you can make accurate descriptions we could use a formula to compress it into a “data bullet” which would be either thought-streamed or passed on as a compressed physical sound. Thoughtstreaming would be ideal for long-distance communication but a compressed sound would work within hearing of the sender. A number unlock key would allow it to play in the mind as perfectly as it did in the mind of the sender.’

  ‘It sounds as though you’ve done this before, Axis.’

&
nbsp; ‘Often. Our astronomers use data bullets to navigate their astral journeys. The information they need is too vast and complex to carry any other way. If it works for them, it should work for you.’

  ‘I’ve neglected maths in the past believing it wasn’t relevant to music. Now I’ll work at it with all my heart. If I succeed in preparing music will you help me to apply the compression formula and attach the unlock key?’

  ‘I’d be more than happy.’

  He was silent a moment and seemed gloomy.

  ‘One thing bothers me – when students take an interest in mathematics only because they’ve found something it can do for them, instead of seeing the beauty of mathematics for its own sake. You’re no worse than the astronomers in this respect and they’re accorded more respect than the mathematicians whose calculations are the true force beneath their flukes.’

  ‘I’ll try to see the beauty in maths,’ she promised.

  Axis laughed, ‘Keep that promise and I’ll do my best to see the beauty in “music” when its time comes.’

  He spun around, breached to the east, and raced off towards his waiting family.

  In the days and weeks that followed, Ripple’s mathematical prowess accelerated. Never before had Axis seen a student improve so rapidly.

  ~~~

  Ripple sought out Rigel later that night, under a moonless but starlit sky. By a stroke of luck he was home on Azure and free to talk. She described her conversation with Axis.

  ‘My dear, I’ve had faith in you since the first moment I heard your “problems” mentioned by Delph, the old fusspot. He wanted me to cosset you, but look at how you’re working out your own course without me.’