Dolphin Tale 2

by Gabrielle Reyes

  But in the next, Winter turned away and dove to the bottom of the pool. Hope wheeled around to the opposite direction, abandoning the surface of the water. Both dolphins were deep in the pool and out of sight.

  “What’s happening?” Lorraine said, craning her neck forward to see farther into the pool. “I can’t see them.”

  “Clay?” asked Phoebe, the panic in her voice rising.

  “Nobody move,” he instructed, scanning the water for the slightest movement.

  Everyone struggled to see what would happen next. The viewers who were sitting down stood up. The ones who were already standing went on tiptoes.

  Suddenly, Sawyer jumped and pointed to the pool. “Here they come!”

  Winter’s back broke through the surface first. Then Hope appeared right next to her. The dolphins lapped the pool, swimming shoulder to shoulder in perfect sync, as if they had been swimming together for years.

  “She’s … she’s accepting,” Sawyer said incredulously.

  The crowd burst into exhilarated applause. It worked!

  “Woooooohooooooo!” shouted Kyle.

  “Well, I’ll be darned,” said George, shaking his head.

  Even Dr. McCarthy couldn’t restrain himself. “Man, I love those fish!” he exclaimed.

  “Oh, come on,” Lorraine said with a laugh. “You know very well they’re not fish!”

  “Hey,” Dr. McCarthy said, straightening his shoulders and resuming his usual curmudgeonly tone. “If it looks like a fish, and smells like a fish …”

  Down in the parking lot, no one was holding back their excitement. Mandy jumped up and down with her brother, squeaking, “They like each other! They like each other!”

  On the other side of the roof, members of the CMA board were congratulating Phil Hordern and patting him on the back. From a corner in the back, George caught Clay’s eye and raised his arm as if holding a glass. A toast to you! he seemed to say. Clay smiled and raised his arm, “toasting” back.

  Hazel kept her camera focused on the animals. Without warning, Hope turned and leaped over Winter, who reacted by spinning around and zipping after her. “They’re playing!” Hazel squealed.

  But Winter surprised everyone by swimming past Hope and going after Sawyer. SPLASH!

  “Whoa!” Sawyer sputtered, blinking the water out of his eyes. Winter playfully head-butted him in the chest, then splashed him again. Hope swam over, wanting to join in the fun. She leapt in front of Sawyer and landed with an even bigger splash.

  “Eek!” shouted Hazel from the platform. She was soaked! Kyle got an idea. He quickly took the camera from Hazel — and pushed her into the water! Hope was thrilled. There were so many friends to play with! Without setting down the camera, Kyle reached down to grab a rubber ball from a basket of toys and threw it into the pool. Hazel caught it and went to toss it to Sawyer, but Winter was too quick. She jumped in between them and bounced the ball off her rostrum toward Hope. The four gleeful friends lit up the pool, splashing and playing as the audience on the deck laughed and cheered them on.

  Sawyer sat back and let his head fall against the headrest in the backseat of his mom’s car. He felt like he was sitting down for the first time in two weeks. Ever since the successful meeting between Winter and Hope, Sawyer had been spending every possible second with Hazel and the dolphins. Only now that he was on the way to the Tampa airport with his mom and Kyle could he feel butterflies in his stomach.

  Sawyer glanced out the window and realized they were passing CMA. At the same time, his cell phone buzzed. Sawyer looked down at the screen and read a text from Hazel: “Look to your left.”

  “Hey, Mom, can we stop for a second?” he asked.

  Lorraine looked over to Kyle in the passenger seat, but he just raised his eyebrows and shrugged. He didn’t know what was going on either. Lorraine pulled the car over on the side of the highway and turned to her son. Is he having second thoughts about going to SEA Semester? Sawyer, however, wasn’t looking at her. He was staring at CMA off in the distance. Hazel was standing on the CMA roof, stretching her arms up high and waving at the car.

  Sawyer, Lorraine, and Kyle squinted in the morning sunlight and watched Hazel duck down out of sight. All of a sudden, a big spot of green burst over the roof, followed by a spot of blue, then orange, then green. Sawyer blinked, and in an instant the sky above CMA was filled with brightly colored helium balloons that formed a huge archway. Suspended from the center was a banner that said “We ♥ Sawyer 4-Ever!!!”

  Hazel finished scooping the last balloon out of the net and released it into the air. She jumped back up and waved once again. A smile took over Sawyer’s entire face. He reached out the car window and stretched his arm out as far as he possibly could and waved back at his friend. He had forgotten that his phone was still in his hand when it started to buzz. He checked the screen and saw a picture message from Hazel. It was Hope jumping over Winter. “W + H say they’ll miss you, too,” Hazel had typed.

  Sawyer looked back at the roof and gave Hazel one last wave. There are a lot of things I am going to miss on my semester away, he thought. He tapped a button on his phone and was typing as Lorraine started the car engine. She was about to pull back onto the road when a huge white thing swooped right past the windshield.

  “Whoa!” Lorraine exclaimed. “What was THAT?”

  Sawyer looked out the front window and watched a familiar creature soar across the sky toward CMA. It couldn’t be, could it? “RUFUS?!”

  The bird soared over the roof wall, past the balloons, and landed right next to Hazel. AWP! He squawked and fluffed his feathers as if he had never been gone. Before Hazel had time to react, she heard a ping coming from her phone. “Thanks, Hazel,” Sawyer had written. “You’re the best.” Hazel swallowed and gazed at Sawyer’s car as it drove down the highway. A few tears had welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them away quickly. She turned back to her feathered friend, who was now waddling over to the rooftop pools. Hazel chuckled and followed the bird. She had a lot to tell him.

  Sawyer shifted in his seat and settled back. In a couple of hours he would be on a plane, and before he knew it he’d be on a ship in the middle of the ocean. He gazed at the photo of Hope and Winter on his phone. Sawyer was so proud of Winter. He didn’t know if dolphins felt emotions like fear, joy, and sadness. But when Winter sighed or nuzzled Sawyer, it felt like she did. Winter had been through some tough times. She had faced physical loss and the loss of a great friend. She had suffered through deep sadness and loneliness. But she had figured out that the hard stuff came along with friendship and joy, too. That life had all of that in it. When Sawyer told her that he would come back to see her after his semester away, he was sure she understood. He remembered what he told Winter when he was saying good-bye: When one door closes, another opens. Life is full of possibilities.

  Mandy was last seen healthy and happy in the Gulf of Mexico.

  The team at CMA continues to improve Winter’s tail. The black flukes make the tracking of her movements more precise, and improvements in technology continue every day.

  Winter and Hope are thriving and have become the best of friends, and can be seen at CMA or online at SeeWinter.com. As CMA continues to grow, the two dolphins remain an inspiration to millions around the world.

  Winter playing in the pool.

  Sawyer and the other aquarium volunteers love helping marine animals!

  Winter made friends with surfing champion Bethany Hamilton.

  Rufus pestering the visitors … again!

  Clay tells Sawyer about Panama.

  Sawyer is given an opportunity to study marine mammals with Dr. Aslan.

  Sawyer, Hazel, and Rebecca examine Mavis.

  Sawyer is concerned about Winter.

  The team slowly moves Mandy into the ocean.

  Is Mandy ready?

  The team celebrates Mandy’s release!

  Clay rushes Hope to a pool.

  Everybody has “Hope for Winter.”
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br />   Sawyer and Hazel love to play with Winter in the pool.

  Hazel is happy with Winter’s progress.

  Winter and Hope became friends!

  © 2014 Alcon Entertainment, LLC.

  DOLPHIN TALE and associated logos are trademarks owned by Alcon Entertainment, LLC.

  WINTER® and HOPE® are registered trademarks owned by Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

  Novel cover design Erin McMahon.

  Published by Scholastic Inc.

  SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First printing, August 2014

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-68571-9

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.