Flip's Surprise Talent

by Catherine Hapka

  Contents

  Title Page

  1 Big News

  2 Show Off Day Is Coming!

  3 An Important Decision

  4 Flip’s Idea

  5 Echo’s Magical Plans

  6 A Musical Mess

  7 Jumping, Swimming, Flipping, and Spinning

  8 Working Together?

  9 Working Apart

  10 Show Off Day

  Sneak Peek

  About the Author

  Don’t miss any adventures at Dolphin School

  Copyright

  “PEARL! WE’RE OVER HERE!”

  Pearl was surprised to hear her friend Echo calling her. She was even more surprised when she saw that their other friends, Flip and Splash, were with her. The three of them were just inside the entrance of Coral Cove Dolphin School, floating in a patch of sunlight filtering down from the surface.

  She swam toward them. “Good morning,” she said. “I can’t believe you’re all here already! I thought I’d be the first one to get to school today.” She smiled and flicked her fluke. “My little sister, Squeak, woke me up extra early.”

  Echo laughed. “Flip and I were ready to go early today, too.”

  Echo and Flip were members of the same pod—a dolphin family. Some pods were quite small, like Pearl’s. She lived in a quiet lagoon with only her mother, father, and little sister. Other pods were much larger. There were more than fifty dolphins in Echo and Flip’s pod. Pearl couldn’t imagine living with that many other dolphins!

  “These two even beat me here today!” Splash put in, doing a flip in the water.

  Pearl smiled. Splash was the fastest swimmer she knew. He was almost always one of the first students to arrive at school.

  “It’s nice to get here early sometimes,” Echo said. “It’s interesting to see what the reef is like without so many dolphins around.”

  Pearl nodded and glanced around the school. It was protected by a colorful coral reef that reached all the way up through the shallow waters of the cove and into the air above. The reef was home to lots of different kinds of sea creatures, from fish to mollusks to jellyfish. Right now a school of needlefish was zipping through the middle of the cove. On the sand below, a blue crab scuttled along, dodging around a cluster of oysters.

  “This place is great, isn’t it?” Pearl blew a happy stream of bubbles from her blowhole. “I wonder what we’re going to do in Magic class today. I hope we practice more healing skills—that was interesting yesterday.”

  Young dolphins from all over this part of the Salty Sea came to Coral Cove Dolphin School to learn everything they needed to know, including how to use their natural magical abilities. Pearl and her friends were all in their first year there.

  Splash laughed. “Why are you thinking about Magic already?” he said. “That class isn’t until the end of the day. Shouldn’t you be wondering about Music class instead? That comes first. Besides, you’re awesome at music, Pearl!”

  “She’s good at magic, too,” Echo said. “When she healed that broken piece of coral in class, it looked as good as new.”

  Pearl smiled. “Thanks. I know I’m not as good at magic as you are, though.”

  “Nobody’s as good at magic as Echo,” Flip said. “Except maybe her mom!”

  Pearl nodded. Echo’s mother had extra strong magic. She was famous throughout the Salty Sea for rescuing some Land Leggers when their boat sank. Dolphins were the protectors of the ocean, and that meant they were always willing to help all the creatures who lived under the waves—or over them. Pearl was sure that one day Echo would be just as good at magic as her mother was.

  “But nobody’s as good at Music as Pearl,” Splash said. “Anyway, I’m glad that Music and Magic aren’t our only classes. Otherwise they’d probably kick me out of school!”

  Echo smiled. “Don’t worry, Splash,” she said. “Everyone knows you’re the best at Jumping and Swimming.”

  “Or at least he’s tied for best,” Flip said, doing a flip just like the one Splash had done. “I’m just as good as he is.”

  Pearl shared a smile with Echo. Flip bragged a lot about almost everything. At first that had bothered Pearl, but it didn’t bother her anymore. She liked everything about her friends.

  “That’s one of the best things about school,” Splash said. “There are enough different classes so that everyone is good at something.”

  “Except Ocean Lore, maybe,” Echo said with a giggle. “Nobody’s good at listening to Old Salty’s boring lectures on algae and barnacles!”

  Pearl giggled, too. But she also looked around to make sure Old Salty wasn’t nearby. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings—even if his lectures were a little dull.

  She didn’t see the Ocean Lore teacher anywhere. Instead, she spotted two other students swimming into the school.

  Echo spotted them, too. “Uh oh,” she whispered. “Here comes Mullet.”

  Mullet was a year ahead of them in school. He was friends with Splash’s brother. But that didn’t mean he was nice to Splash or the other younger dolphins. In fact, he liked to bully the younger kids every chance he got.

  “I don’t know why Shelly hangs out with Mullet,” Pearl whispered, glancing at the dolphin swimming beside Mullet. “She seems really nice.”

  By then the older dolphins had reached them. “What are you babies doing here so early?” Mullet asked with a smirk. “Never mind, I know why. You’re such nerds that you probably wish you could stay at school all the time.”

  “No, we don’t,” Flip shot back.

  “We do love school, though,” Echo added. “What’s wrong with that?”

  “Nothing,” Shelly spoke up with a smile. “I like school, too.”

  “Yeah, but you’re not a nerd like them,” Mullet said.

  Shelly laughed. “Oh, Mullet! You’re so silly!”

  Pearl traded a look with her friends. Shelly never seemed to notice when Mullet was being mean.

  Shelly was still smiling at them. “Anyway, I don’t blame you for wanting to get here early,” she said. “I can tell you’re all really good friends. Very compatible.”

  “Compatible?” Splash said. “What does that mean?”

  “It means we belong together, like fins and water,” Echo told him.

  “More like algae and slime,” Mullet muttered as he swam off.

  “Bye, you guys!” Shelly sang out, swimming after him.

  “Mullet is so mean,” Flip said with a frown.

  “Never mind him.” Echo blew out a stream of bubbles. “Let’s talk about something more fun—like all the cool stuff we’ll be doing in school today!”

  And so they did. They were still talking a few minutes later when Old Salty swam to the middle of the cove and called for attention. Most of the other students and teachers had arrived by then.

  “I have good news,” Old Salty said once everyone was listening. “It’s time for the school’s annual Show Off Day!”

  “SHOW OFF DAY?” FLIP EXCLAIMED. “WOW, that’s awesome!”

  “Yeah!” Splash did three flips in a row. “I can’t believe it’s here already—I can’t wait!”

  Echo laughed. “This is the best day ever!”

  Pearl looked around. Everyone else seemed just as excited as her friends. They were chattering and doing flips and blowing bubbles. Old Salty just watched and smiled.

  “Show Off Day?” Pearl said to her friends. “What’s that?”

  “Are you joking?” Flip said. “Everyone knows what Show Off Day is.”

  “I don’t,” Pearl said.

  “It’s when all the students at Coral Cove Dolphin School get to show off what they’ve learned so far that year,” Echo explained. “The whole dolphin
community comes to watch. Didn’t you ever go with your pod?”

  Splash nodded. “I thought everyone went.”

  One of the teachers swam over. Her name was Bay, and she taught Pearl’s two favorite classes, Magic and Music.

  “I heard what you were saying,” she told the young dolphins. “There’s a good reason why Pearl hasn’t been to Show Off Day before. As you all know, her pod has a very important job protecting baby sea turtles.”

  Pearl nodded. Lots of turtles laid their eggs on the island by her pod’s lagoon. The dolphins helped guide the hatchlings out to sea, where they would be safe from hungry gulls and other land predators.

  “Yeah, we know all about that,” Flip said. “What do a bunch of baby turtles have to do with Show Off Day?”

  “Normally Show Off Day happens around the same time of year that the turtles hatch,” Bay explained. “That’s why Pearl’s pod never came before. They didn’t want to leave their lagoon during that very important time.”

  “Oh.” Pearl was worried. “Does that mean I’ll have to miss Show Off Day this year, too?”

  Bay smiled. “No, you’ll be there, and so will your pod,” she assured Pearl. “We made it earlier this year so you won’t have to miss it.”

  “Really?” Echo bumped Pearl’s side with her snout. “That’s super, Pearl!”

  “Yeah,” Splash said. “Show Off Day wouldn’t be the same without you.”

  Flip nodded. “It’s great! Everyone talks about the best performances all year afterward. This year, one of those best performances is going to be me!”

  Bay chuckled. “All we ask is that you do your best, Flip. And have fun, of course.”

  Pearl smiled at Bay. “Thanks for telling me about Show Off Day,” she said. “Now I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

  Just then Old Salty called for attention again. “I’m glad you’re all so excited,” he told all the students with a chuckle. “We’ll have our regular classes today as usual. But tomorrow you’ll have the whole day to figure out your routines and get started on practicing. Show Off Day will be two days after that.”

  “That’s right.” Bay swam forward to join him. “As always, group performances are encouraged. Remember that dolphins are at their best when they work together.”

  Pearl looked at her friends. “Group performances?”

  “Yeah!” Splash did a flip. “Let’s work together, okay?”

  “Sure,” Echo said. “We make a good group.”

  Flip zipped up to get a breath of air, then swam back down. “So what kind of performance should we do?” he asked. “Whatever it is, it has to be great—I want our group to be the best!”

  “We will be,” Pearl said with a smile. “Because we’re compatible. That’s what Shelly said, remember?”

  Echo didn’t seem to be listening. She was staring off into the distance with a thoughtful expression.

  “Echo?” Pearl said. “What are you thinking about?”

  Echo smiled and sent out a burst of sparkly magic lights. “I was just thinking about how we could do a super amazing magic display,” she said eagerly. “I already have some ideas for really fancy stuff we could do.”

  “A magic display?” Splash sounded dubious. “Everyone will be doing that kind of thing. I think we should do a cool jumping and swimming routine instead.”

  Pearl didn’t like the sound of that. She wasn’t very good at jumping and swimming. This would be her first Show Off Day ever, and she wanted their performance to be something she could do well. Something like magic, or …

  “What about singing a song?” she blurted out, realizing it was the perfect idea. “We’ve been learning some neat things in Music class.”

  Flip looked over as Old Salty called out for everyone to swim to their first classes. “Like I said, I don’t care what we do,” he said. “I’m great at everything. And I can’t wait to show it off!”

  That made the other three laugh. “Let’s get together after school,” Pearl suggested as the four of them swam toward Music class. “We can figure out what to do then.”

  AFTER SCHOOL, PEARL AND HER FRIENDS gathered in a sunny spot outside the reef. “I’m not sure the water is deep enough here for some of the tricks I want us to try,” Splash said, looking around. “We don’t want to bump our snouts on the sand.”

  “Hang on,” Echo said. “We didn’t agree to do your idea. I still think we should do some really cool magic instead.”

  “That would be okay,” Pearl said. “But did any of you think about my idea? With all four of us singing, we could perform a really nice song that everyone would like.”

  “That’s true,” Flip said. “I’m great at singing. But I’m great at the other stuff, too. Which idea do you guys think will impress everyone the most?”

  “Definitely magic,” Echo replied right away.

  “No way! My idea would be much more interesting,” Splash said.

  “Everyone loves a good dolphin song,” Pearl put in. She hoped she could convince her friends to go along with her idea. She was excited about the chance to show her parents what she’d learned in school so far. Echo’s magic idea could be fun, but Pearl was better at music. With everybody watching, she wanted to do the thing she could do the best.

  “We need to figure out a plan soon.” Flip sounded a little impatient. “We don’t have much time to practice, and I want us to be amazing.”

  Mullet swam past just in time to hear him. “Amazing?” he said in a mean voice. “The only amazing thing is that first years are allowed to be in Show Off Day at all. Nobody is going to pay any attention to your baby display. You don’t even know anything yet.”

  “Yes, we do, and yes, they will,” Flip retorted. “We’re going to be great! Right, guys?”

  “Definitely,” Echo agreed. “Our magic display will be like nothing anybody’s ever done at Show Off Day before.”

  “You mean our jumping and swimming routine,” Splash corrected.

  “Didn’t you hear what I said about doing a group song?” Pearl put in. “I know it would be really good.”

  Mullet looked around at all of them. “Wow, it sounds like you can’t even decide what to do. You’d better figure something out soon, or you’ll look silly in front of the entire dolphin community.”

  “We’re deciding right now,” Flip told him. “You don’t have to worry about us looking silly.”

  “Oh, I’m not worried. I know you’re going to look silly.” Mullet smirked. “But don’t be too upset. Nobody will even remember your performance once they see my group.”

  “Really?” Pearl couldn’t help being curious. “What are you guys doing?”

  “Shelly’s already working on our song, and it’s going to be the best,” Mullet bragged. “Finny and I are great singers. We’re almost as good as Shelly, and everyone knows she’s the best in the whole school.”

  Pearl felt nervous. Shelly was super talented at both music and magic—everyone did know that. Could her own ideas for a musical performance ever measure up to Shelly’s song?

  “Songs are boring,” Splash declared. “Our jumping and swimming display will be much more exciting.”

  “You mean our amazing magic performance,” Echo put in.

  “Whatever.” Mullet rolled his eyes. “Like I said, you’d better hurry up and decide what you’re doing. Otherwise Old Salty might not let you be in the show at all!”

  He swam off with a swirl of bubbles. Pearl glanced at her friends, worried.

  “Is that true?” she asked. “If we don’t decide what we’re doing right away, will we be banned from performing?” Now that she knew about Show Off Day, it was terrible to think about something like that happening! She was already looking forward to showing her pod how well she was doing in school.

  “No, Mullet’s just trying to get our fins in a flurry,” Echo assured her. “Everyone gets to participate, no matter what.”

  “Yeah.” Splash grinned. “Remember two years ago? Those girl
s messed up their magic show because they didn’t bother to practice.”

  “You mean the ones who accidentally sent all those pinching crabs into the audience instead of making them dance?” Flip said with a laugh. “I remember that.”

  “So do I. Everyone was talking about it for ages afterward,” Echo agreed with a shudder. “But not in a good way.”

  “Don’t worry, that won’t be us,” Flip said. “But Mullet is right about one thing. We need to decide what we’re doing soon so we have plenty of time to practice.”

  “What do you think about my idea to do a song?” Pearl said quickly, before her friends could respond. “I know it would be really good.”

  “Not as good as my magic idea.” Echo sent out a burst of magical sparkles that floated up through the water.

  “I keep telling you, we should do jumping and swimming,” Splash said. “Why aren’t you guys listening?”

  “Why aren’t you listening to me?” Echo retorted. “You’re not even giving my idea a chance!”

  “Neither are you,” Pearl blurted out. “Everyone knows you’re great at magic, but what about the rest of us? We need something we can all do well!”

  “Like jumping and swimming,” Splash put in, doing a quick flip.

  Pearl sent out a frustrated burst of bubbles. “No, not like that,” she said. “You know I’m not very good in Jumping and Swimming class. Why would I want to show that off to everyone?”

  “Well, why would I want to show everyone that I can barely do enough magic to convince a fish to swim?” Splash retorted. “Jumping and swimming is what I do best, and that’s what I want to do.”

  “Come on, you guys,” Flip put in. “We’ll never impress anyone on Show Off Day if we can’t even agree on what to do!”

  “Well, what do you want to do?” Echo asked him. “We have one vote each for our three ideas. That means you get the deciding vote.” She touched his fin and smiled. “And everyone knows you’re great at magic. You might even be a little better than me.”

  “Hey!” Splash protested. “You don’t really think that. You’re trying to convince him to vote with you.”