CHAPTER SEVENTEEN<\/p>\n
It was some tides later that an opening mysteriously ap-<\/p>\n
peared at one end of the pool. As I sounded the entry looking for<\/p>\n
lurking danger, I heard the most delightful sound — the clear, crisp<\/p>\n
callings from others of my kind.<\/p>\n
With strong pulls of my tail I surged into the pool\u2019s entry,<\/p>\n
and down through a darkened cave which I seek-sensed absent of<\/p>\n
obstacles. I found myself in a larger pool where the others were<\/p>\n
waiting for me: four exuberant dolphins and one fat whale.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank ALL THAT IS RIGHT IN THE WORLD,\u201d I gushed. \u201cI<\/p>\n
am not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course you\u2019re not, dearie,\u201d said a wrinkled old dolphin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are all here together. I am Bitty,\u201d she laughed. \u201cWelcome to<\/p>\n
our home.\u201d Quickly she introduced the others: \u201cThis is Water<\/p>\n
Spout, Foamer, Bobble Nose and the whale, who is newest of us all,<\/p>\n
is called Dreamer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow wonderful! I am Laughter Ring\u201d I babbled in a rush.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmong the five of us — six counting the whale — we should be able<\/p>\n
to find a way of escape.\u201d<\/p>\n
The old dolphin looked at me and laughed merrily, \u201cWhy ever<\/p>\n
would we try to do such a foolish thing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, whatever for?\u201d the rest chorused.<\/p>\n
I looked at my fellow prisoners in total shock. \u201cDo you mean<\/p>\n
to say that you want to stay here? You would rather stay here as<\/p>\n
captives than be free in the open sea?\u201d<\/p>\n
The plump whale called Dreamer laughed, his sides rolling in<\/p>\n
a merry fashion. \u201cOh, no, no, no,\u201d he sang. \u201cThat is to say, we don\u2019t<\/p>\n
really like it here, and we don\u2019t really want to stay here. We would<\/p>\n
much rather be in the open sea, but we still remain here of our own<\/p>\n
free will.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that is enigma,\u201d I protested as I shook my head search-<\/p>\n
ing for some bit of logic. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to be here but yet you stay<\/p>\n
of your own free will? For pity\u2019s sake, you were all captured like I<\/p>\n
was, and yet for some insane reason, you wish to stay? You, my<\/p>\n
friends, have eaten too much of the dead fish.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, my poor, little dolphin,\u201d said Bitty as she tried to con-<\/p>\n
sole me, \u201cDo you really mean to say that you were caught and<\/p>\n
didn\u2019t want to be caught?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I didn\u2019t want to be caught,\u201d I snapped, trying<\/p>\n
desperately to make sense of their riddle-like questions that were<\/p>\n
offered as answers to my questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen, my sweet,\u201d Bitty whispered, \u201chave you noticed cer-<\/p>\n
tain odd things as you\u2019ve been detained here? Certain odd things<\/p>\n
about the sandwalker?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly,\u201d I snarled. \u201cI have heard the odd clicking that is<\/p>\n
almost speech before they throw dead fish at me. I have noticed<\/p>\n
how the sandwalkers stare and stare. But what has all this to do<\/p>\n
with you and me?\u201d<\/p>\n
The other dolphins settled themselves in the water, and the<\/p>\n
whale began to sing, \u201cI am the most recent to come here, and I did<\/p>\n
indeed come here of my own will, though the sandwalker would nev-<\/p>\n
er believe that. I have been to the ice. I have listened to the Nar-<\/p>\n
whal. They encouraged me to come. They have sent others before<\/p>\n
— volunteers willing to be captured and not afraid to live in these<\/p>\n
sterile confines. Once captured, I was to learn more about this evil<\/p>\n
creature that refuses to acknowledge the Song of the Sea.\u201d<\/p>\n
The old dolphin continued, \u201cFor thousands of tides, many<\/p>\n
of us, the dolphin, the whale, and even our crude cousins, the<\/p>\n
flipper-fin, have given ourselves up to imprisonment here. While<\/p>\n
penned and locked in these sterile surroundings, we study the<\/p>\n
sandwalker, we learn about him. We learn of his strengths and we<\/p>\n
learn of his weakness. As each new member is added, we share<\/p>\n
our songs so that all can benefit from the knowledge that we have<\/p>\n
gained while in voluntary captivity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Water Spout looked around, ever the conspirator, and add-<\/p>\n
ed, \u201cAt times one or more of us either escapes or has been set<\/p>\n
free. The information all of us have gathered is taken back to the<\/p>\n
Narwhal. The Narwhal assimilate the information into their song<\/p>\n
and pass that information along in the Holy Song of Truth. They,<\/p>\n
in turn, sing to any who come near maintaining the melody of the<\/p>\n
Song of the Sea.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut life here is not without its risks.\u201d Bitty sighed, \u201cbefore<\/p>\n
Dreamer there was another whale, a beluga. He was killed!\u201d<\/p>\n
I recoiled in shock, \u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
The oldest dolphin sighed, looked at the others and then<\/p>\n
continued, \u201cWe are expected to do certain things. The Beluga, a<\/p>\n
fat, fun-loving lump of whale, couldn\u2019t do the \u2018certain things\u2019 and<\/p>\n
finally was separated from us, a hundred tides or so, ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
The little dolphin called Bobble Nose whispered, \u201cWe heard<\/p>\n
him scream \u2013 many times, but we never knew what was happening.<\/p>\n
I saw him being lifted from the isolation pond. He was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
I twisted in the water both by a birth-cramp and the shock<\/p>\n
of what had been told. I quickly explained what had transpired and<\/p>\n
of that the prophesy had been fulfilled and that the Conclave that<\/p>\n
had been called of all those who swim in the sea. Finally, with tears<\/p>\n
in my eyes, I told them of my mate, Little Brother, and of the child I<\/p>\n
now carried. I told them of my loss of free will as I was stolen from<\/p>\n
the sea.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, Laughter Ring,\u201d Foamer cried, \u201cyou are with child.<\/p>\n
This will make it more difficult, but we will see that you are freed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou talk of freedom and of escape,\u201d I wailed, \u201cbut I have<\/p>\n
seen these stone pools, and there is no escape.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrue,\u201d said Bitty, \u201cbut in tides past, whale and dolphin like<\/p>\n
you are put in our midst to grow in strength, and then, for some<\/p>\n
reason we have never understood, the sandwalker takes them back<\/p>\n
to the sea. My guess is that you will be freed soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if that is true,\u201d I continued, \u201cthen I might be imprisoned<\/p>\n
for many tides before they decide to set me free! The Conclave<\/p>\n
comes soon, and I have to carry what you have said to Harmony.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dreamer\u2019s eyes narrowed in deep concern. \u201cIf what you say<\/p>\n
is true, and I have no doubt that it is, then it is important that you<\/p>\n
are set free. We have made discovery that will shake the very mel-<\/p>\n
ody of the Song itself. You see, we have discovered a sandwalker<\/p>\n
that not only has soul but she can understand and now sings,<\/p>\n
though crudely, the Song of the Sea. She will help us.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mind raced with the possibility, but I knew there was no<\/p>\n
way it could be true. The crude sandwalkers — known to be the<\/p>\n
source of all the evil in the sea — simply could not know the Song.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is impossible. The Narwhal sing that the sandwalker is the<\/p>\n
root of all evil. The Narwhal have wanted the Conclave so that all<\/p>\n
the brethren would turn as one against the sandwalker, and in doing<\/p>\n
so kill them! What you say cannot be true!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is true, that which the Dreamer has sung,\u201d Bitty said firm-<\/p>\n
ly, \u201cI have been here longer than any of the others. The sandwalker<\/p>\n
can sing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut,\u201d I protested, \u201cI have heard the crude clickings in the<\/p>\n
water. The best I have been able to make out is that they can say<\/p>\n
squid squiggle which makes no sense at all to me. This can hardly<\/p>\n
be called the singing of the Song.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bitty continued, \u201cThis sandwalker does not listen to the<\/p>\n
other sandwalkers, nor for that matter does she truly hear our Song.<\/p>\n
But rather she feels, with her fins and her whole body when im-<\/p>\n
mersed in the water, the Song as sung by the whale and the stories<\/p>\n
as told by the dolphin. By our standards and the standards of the<\/p>\n
sandwalker, she cannot hear a single word spoken or sung. Al-<\/p>\n
though she is totally deaf, she is filled with the gift of spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about all they had sung, then countered with logic<\/p>\n
of my own, \u201cIf this sandwalker cannot hear, but in some way senses<\/p>\n
and feels the Song, how can she sing? We all know that those who<\/p>\n
cannot hear, also have no voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe sings with her fins an odd song. Though this seems<\/p>\n
unbelievable, we are able to understand her, and she us. We are<\/p>\n
unable to speak or sing her name as the sandwalker does in the gut-<\/p>\n
tural burping, but we have given her an honor never before bestowed<\/p>\n
on one who swims on the dryside. We have given her a place in the<\/p>\n
Song of the Sea. We have given her a name.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then together the four dolphins and the whale chorused,<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is called Sharing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN It was some tides later that an opening mysteriously ap- peared at one end of the pool. As I sounded the entry looking for lurking danger, I heard the most delightful sound — the clear, crisp callings from others of my kind. With strong pulls of my tail I surged into the pool\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1360","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1360"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1361,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360\/revisions\/1361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}