SPEAKER
Maleko wiggled his toes in the sand and listened to the voices of gulls circling above the cove ahead. They sounded excited, the way they often did when there was a fishing boat near the shore, or tourists threw scraps of food onto the water.
He wished he could understand what they were saying, the way people in his grandfather’s stories could. His grandfather was from islands far away and often told Maleko about times long ago, times even before his grandfather was born.
School was over for the summer and Maleko spent every morning exploring the beach and watching the tiny creatures that swam in little pools that formed when the tide slid back into the ocean. Sometimes, if the day was hot and sunny, he would scoop them up in his hands and put them back in the water before the little pools dried up.
It was sunny today, though the sun wasn’t yet high enough to feel really hot. He decided to check a place where the pools dried quickly. Over some rocks and down to near the edge of the water he climbed, but the pools had no creatures that needed help.
The gulls were louder now. Maleko followed the edge of the water toward the cove. He stopped to check a deep, rocky, tide pool. This one never dried, so he just wanted to see what might be there. Small crabs and fish darted as his shadow shaded the pool. He smiled and started to walk on, but stopped after just a few steps.
Something was wrong. He was never sick, but he felt very sick now. His back hurt and the sun felt hot enough to burn. He sat down on the sand. Should he use the cell phone his grandfather had given him for emergencies? Was this an emergency?
“Screep… Weet…” A high whistle made him stop thinking about the phone. It happened again. He covered his ears, but the sound was inside his head.
“Scr…wee…” The whistle changed shape in his mind the way clay changed when you squeezed it in your hand. It changed into words.
“Help! Please help me!”
Maleko stood and waited just a minute until he didn’t feel so sick, then he started to run toward the cove.
When he passed the last dune at the edge of the cove, the first thing he saw were the gulls, circling and diving, then he saw why they were so excited.
On the beach, right at the edge of the water, was a dolphin. It had a long cut on its back, and the sand under it was pink from the blood that trickled down its side.
A gull dove and pecked at the red cut.
“No!” Maleko shouted and ran even faster, waving his arms at the gulls. “Go away!”
“Help!”
Maleko pulled his shirt over his head and used it to chase the bolder gulls, who stayed just out of reach but weren’t frightened enough to fly away.
His back started to hurt again and the sun burned worse than he had ever felt it.
What should he do? His grandfather would know. His grandfather knew practically everything about the sea and the animals who lived there. Maleko took the cell phone from his shorts pocket and broke the seal on the plastic bag that kept it safe from water and sand.
This was absolutely an emergency.
“Maleko!” his grandfather’s voice said. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Where are you?”
“It’s not me, Grandfather,” Maleko said. “It’s a dolphin in the cove. It’s hurt and it’s beached and the gulls are attacking it!” He stopped for breath. His back hurt SO much…
“Maleko? Are you alright? You sound like there’s something wrong with you too.”
“I don’t know. My back hurts and the sun is making me feel sick.”
“I’m on my way,” Grandfather said.” You said the dolphin was hurt. Where is it injured?”
“On its back, like it was caught by a boat propeller, but this looks really bad.”
Grandfather was quiet for a few seconds. “I’ll call for help on the way. If you can, splash water on the dolphin and do your best to keep the gulls away, but be careful, hungry gulls don’t care if you’re a dolphin or a human. Understand?”
“Yes. Please hurry!”
“In the dune buggy now. Bringing buckets and a tarp.”
Grandfather hung up and Maleko waded into the water. He used his shirt like a scoop to throw water over the dolphin, then he chased gulls, then he scooped more water.
He was working very hard, but the odd thing was, the more water he scooped over the dolphin, the less the heat of the sun bothered him.
Then, he could hear the sound of his grandfather’s dune buggy. “Help is coming,” he told the dolphin. “My grandfather will help.”
“Thank you.”
I didn’t hear that, Maleko thought. It’s my imagination.
Grandfather stopped the dune buggy just beyond the high tide mark. “Good job!” he shouted. “Keep it up!”
Maleko kept using his shirt for water until his grandfather handed him a bucket. That worked much better, splashing water all over the dolphin.
The sun didn’t feel hot at all any more.
“I called Dr. Minton,” Grandfather said as he pushed poles into the sand to hold a tarp over the dolphin. “She said she didn’t know a lot about dolphin injuries but that she would ask for help from an expert she knows.”
“But is she coming? He really hurts.”
His grandfather looked at him. “Are you guessing he really hurts because the cut looks so bad, or do you KNOW he really hurts because you can feel it?”
“I…” Maleko wasn’t sure. “I don’t know,” he said. “My back hurts, but I feel like it’s…like it’s not really MY back.” He shook his head and scooped up another bucket of sea water. “That sounds stupid.”
“Not stupid,” Grandfather said. “It’s a gift I always wished I had received. But we’ll talk about that later; right now, we have to protect this dolphin until Dr. Minton arrives.”
“I talked to the veterinarian who takes care of dolphins at a sanctuary on the other side of the country,” Dr. Minton said. “He told me that injuries like this will usually heal by themselves if the dolphin is protected so nothing makes it worse.”
“Like the seagulls?” Maleko asked.
“That’s right. And, of course, we have to keep him away from large predators, like sharks, for a while.
“You don’t have to do stiches or anything?”
“No. Dolphins have very special skin with a lot of layers that make it hard to stich the way I’d stich a cut on an injured dog or cat. Nature provided a very good protective covering, but one thing a dolphin’s skin can’t do is protect it from the sun. The sea water is supposed to do that. Beached dolphins can be burned so badly that they always carry the scars.”
“Is he that bad?”
“I don’t think so. Do you know how long he’s been here?”
“Not too long, he wasn’t here yesterday afternoon.”
“Good.” Dr. Minton smiled. “I’ll call the sanctuary vet again and describe the situation to him. I’ll call your grandfather with any suggestions to help our new friend. I wish there were a sanctuary here.”
“So do I,” Maleko said.
Grandfather tied one corner of the tarp to a corner pole. “Could you call the town council and tell them about this? I know they care more about the beach looking pretty than they do about dolphins. They would listen to a professional like you more than they would listen to ordinary people like Maleko and me.”
Dr. Minton laughed. “There’s nothing ordinary about you or Maleko! Of course I’ll call, but I can’t imagine they’d object to a temporary shelter for an injured dolphin. I’ll call them first, and I’ll let you know what else I learn from the expert.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Grandfather said. “Please send me the bill for your time.”
Dr. Minton shook her head. “Consider it my little contribution. You’re doing all the work.”
“Thank you!” Maleko said. “I’d like to be a veterinarian someday! A dolphin veterinarian!”
“Good for you! I hope you reach that dream!”
When Dr. Minton was gone and they had finished putting up the tarp, Grandfather told Maleko stories from long ago about people who could talk to dolphins in their minds.
“We would call it telepathy now,” he said, “or animal communication. Then, it was just called Speaking, but it was always special. Only a few had the gift. It looks like you have it, Maleko, I hope you always use it well.”
“Is it magic?” Maleko asked.
“I don’t know. If something wonderful and unusual is magic, then yes, I suppose it is. Even if, someday, we find a scientific explanation for it, it will still be magical.” He stood and brushed sand from his jeans. “I’m going home to gather materials and call a few friends. We need to build a barricade in the water to protect your friend until he’s healed enough to return to the open sea. When we get back, you can take a break and go home for lunch. I’ll bet you’re starting to get hungry.”
“A little.”
“Hungry!”
Maleko pointed to the dolphin. “He’s hungry too,”
“That, we can fix,” Grandfather said.
In the afternoon, Maleko and his grandfather sat on the beach. The dolphin was very still, floating in shallow water under the big blue tarp.
“He said to thank you for the fish,” Maleko said. “and to thank everyone who helped build the safe place.”
“Please tell him we were happy to help,” Grandfather said. “Does he have a name? I don’t like calling him ‘dolphin’ all the time.”
“I’ll ask.” Maleko closed his eyes. It was getting easier and easier to Speak to the dolphin, but he still had to listen very carefully when the thoughts came. “He says his name is a special sound – that each dolphin has a different sound. It doesn’t have a meaning except this is who I am. We wouldn’t be able to say it. We probably wouldn’t even be able to hear it.” He opened his eyes. “He said if we want to give him a human name that we can say, that’s all right with him.”
“Good!” Grandfather said. “You should have that honor.”
“Ocean,” Maleko said. “I think that would be a good name for him.”
“So do I. Let’s go get a few more fish for Ocean and find out if Dr. Minton had any luck with the town council.”
Maleko and Grandfather had walked almost to the road above the beach when a police car pulled up beside them. “It’s Officer Mike!” Maleko said. “Did you come to see Ocean?”
Officer Mike got out of the car. “Ocean?”
“That’s Maleko’s new name for the dolphin,” Grandfather said.
“Well…” Officer Mike said, “I came about the dolphin.”
“That sounds like bad news,” Grandfather said.
Maleko looked at his grandfather and then Officer Mike. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry, Maleko,” Officer Mike said, “but the town council has decided that the shelter you built for the dolphin has to come down.”
“But he’s hurt!” Maleko said. “Why don’t they want to help him?”
Officer Mike shook his head. “I don’t think they’re trying to to hurt him, but they care more about the beach looking nice for tourists.”
“But…”
“I know,” Officer Mike said, “but they’ve ordered it taken down and the beach is town property. I have to come back tomorrow to make sure the shelter has been taken down.”
Maleko waded into the water up to his knees. “We have a problem, Ocean,” he said. “The town council wants to take down your tent and wall.”
“Why?”
“Something stupid about keeping the beach pretty for people to look at. What should we do?”
Ocean puffed a little spray of water from his blow-hole. “I don’t understand how humans think. Maybe you should talk to your grandfather and that nice Dr. Minton.”
“Good idea. Maybe they can help.”
“I called Dr. Minton,” Grandfather said. “She’s free this afternoon and will meet us on the beach.
“What’s wrong with the people on the town council?” Maleko asked.
Grandfather sighed. “It’s mostly about money. When tourists – people from out of town – come to walk on the beach, they spend money in restaurants and stores; sometimes in the hotels. A lot of people around here make their livings on tourism.”
“Ocean is more important than money!”
“Of course he is,” Grandfather said, “but money makes things in this town run. I might have an idea…” He looked at his watch. “It’s time to meet Dr. Minton. Let’s talk about it with her.”
A few people were walking on the beach when Maleko and Grandfather met Dr. Minton,
“After I called the Council, I was afraid there might be a problem,” Dr. Minton said. “They are the type of people who only care about what something looks like; not about the good it does.”
“And money,” Maleko said.
Dr. Minton laughed. “And definitely money.”
“I had an idea,” Grandfather said. “What if we called the local television and radio stations and asked them to do stories about the injured dolphin. Maybe the Council would give us more time if the voters knew what was happening.”
“That’s a great idea!” Dr. Minton said and took out her cell phone. “I know a reporter at channel 6. Maybe he can do a story. Then I’ll call everyone I can think of.”
“My best friend’s mom does a podcast,” Maleko said.
“That would help, too,” Grandfather said. “The more people hear about this, the better.”
“Excuse me.” A woman with a little girl came up to them. “Do you live here? My daughter and I were wondering about the dolphin.”
Grandfather and Maleko told them about Ocean while Dr. Minton made phone calls.
“I think it’s wonderful that you’re helping him,” the woman said “How long will it take him to heal?”
“We’re not sure,” Grandfather said, “but the town council said we have to take his shelter down by noon tomorrow.”
“That’s awful! Why?”
“They haven’t spoken to us, but we think it’s because they think the shelter is ugly and will keep tourists away.”
“That’s ridiculous!” the woman said, “I’m a tourist, my whole family are tourists here. We were hoping to see a dolphin. We love dolphins. EVERYONE loves dolphins. If people find out you’re helping dolphins, you’ll have more visitors than ever.”
“Right!” Maleko said.
“And,” the woman said,” if your shelter isn’t pretty enough, we can build a pretty one that other dolphins can use too.”
“We?” Grandfather said.
“I’ll be here for a week,” she said. “I’ll help. I’d love to help!”
“We’re trying to get television and radio coverage,” Grandfather said. “If we do, could they interview you?”
“Of course! We’re staying nearby. I can be here in ten minutes. I’ll give you my number. My name’s Sue, by the way.”
Dr. Minton joined them. “My friend from Channel 6 will be here in an hour. He thinks it’s a great story idea. A few other reporters are interested too.”
Sue said, “I can ask the other tourists I meet if they’d like to be in a news story. I’ll explain it all to them. She turned to her daughter, who was watching Ocean. “Come on, Tiff. Want to help?”
“Helping the dolphin!” Tiffany said. “Yeah!”
They both ran towards groups of tourists further down the beach.
“Wow!” Dr. Minton said. “She’s very enthusiastic, and exactly the kind of person we need to show the Council that it’s wrong.”
The camera went back to the reporter. Now, Sue and Tiffany were standing next to him. Tiffany was holding a little plush dolphin.
“This is Sue and her daughter, Tiffany. You’re vacationing here?”
“That’s right,” Sue said. “My husband and son are here too. Every year we pick a town with a beach where we might see dolphins. We think it’s wonderful that the people who live here care about this dolphin. Some of the people, anyway. We think it’s a shame that the local government wants to deprive this dolphin of protection.”
“Our station hasn’t been able to reach a Council member.”
“I hope that changes before noon tomorrow,” Sue said.
“I love dolphins!” Tiffany said.
“It looks like everyone here agrees,” the reporter said to the camera. “Stay tuned to Channel 6 for updates.”
The station went on to another story, and Maleko hit the off button on the remote. “Do you think the people on the Council were listening?”
“I don’t know,” Grandfather said, “but there’s a petition about the shelter being circulated in town. I’ll bet nearly everyone will sign it now.”
“Yes!” Maleko said. “Can I go tell Ocean about it?”
“Of course,” Grandfather said. “You’re the only one who can tell him what’s happening; but don’t promise anything yet. Sometimes politicians can be very stubborn.”
When Maleko reached the beach, he couldn’t believe what he saw.
The cameras from Channel 6 were back and so were cameras from other local stations and a big truck from a cable news company. And there were people EVERYWHERE. Grownups, teenagers, children.
There were picnics and beach volleyball games. Dogs barked and chased disks.
Maleko slipped through the crowds to the edge of the water. “Ocean!” he called with his mind.
“Hello, Maleko. Why are all these people here?”
“They came because they want to stop the Council from taking down your shelter.”
“Will that help?”
“I hope so. Grandfather said that politicians can be very stubborn.”
“I don’t understand humans.”
“Sometimes, I don’t either.”
“Hey, Maleko! Pretty cool about the dolphin, right?” It was Maleko’s friend, Paul. Paul lived far from the beach.
“Hi, Paul!” Maleko shouted back. “What are you doing here?”
“We were watching the news and my dad said ‘Let’s go!’, so we did!” He started to walk through the crowd, still shouting so he could be heard. “They said a boy and his grandfather. Was that you and your grandfather? Did you rescue the dolphin?”
Other people heard and were turning to look at Maleko.
Saying “no” would be a lie, but he and his grandfather had agreed not to look for attention.
“I gotta go!” he shouted back, ran through the crowd and away from the beach.
The next morning, Maleko went to the beach with fish for Ocean. It was so early the sun was still hidden behind the dunes. The sky was streaked with gray and pink clouds.
“Thank you. I was getting hungry. Yesterday, some young humans threw white things at me that I think were supposed to be food. I tasted some. I didn’t like it.”
Maleko had seen children in the crowd carrying huge clear bags stuffed with white and yellow. “That was probably popcorn,” he said. “I hope you didn’t eat much of it. I don’t think it would be good for you.”
“I didn’t. I ducked under the water and most of it floated away. Is it good for humans?”
“It’s okay. It’s a snack. We eat it for fun because it tastes good.”
“Tastes good?” Ocean made a Yuck sound in his mind. “I really don’t understand humans.”
“Well,” Maleko said, “MOST humans don’t like the taste of raw fish. Everyone is different.”
“That’s true, but humans seem very, very different.”
“Good morning, Maleko!” Dr. Minton was walking toward them. “How’s our patient?”
“Hungry!” Maleko said and threw Ocean another fish.
“That’s good. I hope he’ll let me take a close look at him. The dolphin experts told me a few things to watch for.”
Maleko quickly asked Ocean, but he couldn’t let Dr. Minton know that, at least not yet. “I think it will be all right. He seems to understand that people are trying to help.”
Ocean was very still while Dr. Minton checked the wound on his back.
“Looking good,” she said. “Healing nicely. You’re a good patient, Mr. Dolphin.”
She waded back to the beach. “I hope the Council listens to the people. It will be a few days before it would be a good for him to go back to the open sea.”
“Do you think Officer Mike will make us take it down?”
Dr. Minton sighed. “It’s not Officer Mike’s fault. I talked to him yesterday and he thinks the shelter should stay. But he works for the town and the Council makes the rules for the town.”
“It’s not fair.”
“No, it’s not, so we have to work to fix it.” She looked past Maleko and waved. “And here comes one of our chief fixers. Hi, Sue, and Hi, Tiffany!”
“Good morning, Doctor! I have something to show you.” She was carrying a big plastic folder. “My husband knows an architect who said he’d like to help. He sent this. He said it’s just a sketch, just an idea, but it already looks good to me.”
She opened the folder. Inside was a drawing of a shelter with a white stone wall and a big, curved cover that looked like a sailboat sail. There was a short pier from the beach. It was all white. The sky and the sea around it were sunny-day blue.
‘It has a gate toward the sea so dolphins can swim in and out any time they want to, or it can be closed if they need extra protection.”
“That’s beautiful!” Dr. Minton said.
“Ocean would love that!” Maleko said.
Everyone looked at him.
“Who’s Ocean?” Tiffany asked.
“Uh… It’s – it’s what I call the dolphin.”
“Nice!” Tiffany said.
“Like it!” Dr. Minton said.
“We’ll use it!” Sue said.
“Here comes my friend from Channel 6,” Dr. Minton said. “Nice and early.”
“Hi, Nan,” the reporter said. “Any news on the Council? They haven’t answered my calls, texts or emails.”
“I heard they were meeting this morning.”
“I hope it’s good news. I like doing happy stories.”
Dr. Minton’s phone rang. She talked for a minute. “That was officer Mike,” she said. “The Council would like to talk to me and Sue.”
It was nearly noon, and there was a crowd of people on the beach. Maleko and Grandfather were talking to the friends who had helped put up the shelter. A lot of people were still walking back and forth with their signs and television cameramen were recording everything.
Maleko looked up toward the road. “Oh, oh,” he said.
Two police cars led the way, followed by a lot of regular cars and trucks. The cameramen hurried to get a good view of the flashing lights and sandy dust flying up from all the tires.
Officer Mike and three other officers got out of the police cars and asked everyone to stay back. The other car doors started to open and members of the Town Council gathered in a bunch behind the Chairman. Dr. Minton, Sue and Tiffany came from somewhere in the confusion and stood off to the side.
Dr. Minton smiled at Maleko.
Someone handed the Chairman a microphone. He tapped the microphone twice and said “Ahem!” a few times until he knew everyone was listening.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he began. “Thank you for being here today.”
There were a few murmurs in the crowd. Some people were quite angry and didn’t want to listen to a speech.
“The Council held an emergency meeting this morning. We spoke to a number of concerned citizens of Green Beach and with some visitors, as well. We have decided to rescind our order concerning the removal of the temporary dolphin shelter.”
The crowd cheered.
“Maleko tugged on Grandfather’s sleeve. “What does ‘rescind’ mean?”
“Taking it back. They’re cancelling the order.”
“The shelter can stay?”
Grandfather smiled. “That’s exactly what it means.”
The Chairman held up a hand. It took a long time for everyone to listen again.
“We, the Council members and I, decided to study the situation from a different angle. While we were concerned that the temporary shelter was unattractive,” he held up a hand again, “we came to realize that it served a vital purpose. Furthermore, we have been advised that there is no dolphin sanctuary for many, many miles along the coast. We propose to remedy that by endorsing a permanent Green Beach dolphin shelter at the south end of the cove. We already have a possible design which will be both practical and esthetically pleasing.”
Grandfather was still smiling. “That means he thinks it will attract more tourist money to the town.”
Sue stepped forward and started passing copies of the architect’s drawing to the people. There were a lot of oohs and happy murmurs this time.
“The town will contribute part of the cost, but those who want to see this project come to fruition will need to find a way to raise funds. Dr. Minton has volunteered to lead that effort.”
The people in the crowd applauded.
“Thank you all for your attention,” the Chairman said. “We hope to continue to have meaningful dialog concerning the completion of this worthy endeavor.”
Maleko watched Dr. Minton hide a smile behind her hand. Then he remembered that Ocean was the only one who hadn’t heard the good news. He ran to the water’s edge and splashed in.
“Ocean! It’s okay! The shelter can stay and we’re going to build one that’s even bigger and better for whenever a dolphin needs it!”
Ocean pushed his head above the water. “That’s great news! It makes me almost as happy as when I found out you were a Speaker.”
“I’m glad I could help, but everyone here helped, and they’re going to keep helping until we have a real dolphin sanctuary.” He looked at Ocean’s smile. He knew that all Bottlenose Dolphins looked like they were smiling, but this felt different. “Did you use some kind of magic to change the Town Council’s minds?”
“Umm… I wouldn’t exactly call it magic. I did try as hard as I could to Speak to every one of them. I don’t know if anyone heard me, but I tried.”
Maleko laughed. “Something worked, and that’s what’s important.”
A week later, Ocean’s friends gathered on the beach.
“This is it,” Dr. Minton said. “Ocean has healed very well. It’s time to open the shelter so he can go home.”
“I’m going to miss you” Maleko said to Ocean.
“I’ll visit.”
“Promise?”
“Of course. I want you to show me the new sanctuary shelter. I want you to show my dolphin friends, too. They may need to use it some day.”
“I hope you’ll visit other times, too. And your friends.”
“You’ll meet my best friend soon. She’s almost here.”
“Maleko? Are you okay?” Dr. Minton asked.
“Mm? I’m fine. I was just… thinking.”
“We’re going to move the rocks now. Want to help?”
“Sure.”
Everyone helped; even Tiffany carried a few little stones in a sand bucket.
Dr. Minton’s friend from Channel 6 was there with a cameraman, waiting for footage of Ocean swimming away.
But Ocean didn’t swim anywhere.
“Is he really okay?” Sue asked.
“He checks out perfectly,” Dr. Minton said. “Maybe he doesn’t realize the wall is open.”
That was such a silly idea that Maleko had to say something. “He knows. He’s waiting for a friend.”
“Really?” Sue asked. “How do you know that?”
“Look!” Tiffany shouted. “’Way out there!” She pointed. “Is that Ocean’s friend?”
A sleek grey shape was shooting toward the beach. Ocean swam slowly from the shelter, then zoomed away. Maleko could hear him calling to his friend.
“Keep filming!” the reporter said. “This is going to be good. I can feel it!”
A dolphin leapt out of the water. Then another joined in. Both jumped over and over, making arcs high above the water.
Dr. Minton put a hand on Maleko’s shoulder. “Someday, will you tell me how you knew Ocean’s friend was coming?”
Maleko nodded as he watched the dolphins playing. “Someday.”
