Rodriguez the dolphin bobbed on the surface of the water. “Hey.” The zoologist tossed a fish and went back to taking notes. Rodriguez ignored it for a minute.
“Hey, you.” He waited at the edge of the pool, staring at the zoologist. “Come here.” The zoologist went to Rodriguez and rubbed his bottlenose. “Yes, yes that’s very nice but I really want to talk about something.” The zoologist blinked dumbly before picking up his pen. Rodriguez snorted like dolphins tend to. He waited a moment for the zoologist to become situated.
“I really just have a question.” The zoologist took more notes. “I mean it’s probably so obvious what I’m going to ask you. It’s all I seem to be able to talk about.” Rodriguez came a little closer to the edge of the pool. “What’s it like to love somebody?” The zoologist glanced up distractedly.
“I mean, I have no real good guess, especially since I don’t really know what it feels like. Is it like a really big fish that you have to try really hard to swallow? Or is it like a hundred tiny fish all slithering down in your belly?” He squealed in delight.
“Is it like fish at all?” The zoologist looked at Rodriguez’s beady eyes. Rodriguez watched the zoologist eagerly. The zoologist hummed sagely and shook his head, writing something.
“What’s it like to be out there? I mean it must be strange, walking around.” He clicked several times and left his mouth open. The zoologist got up and patted the inside of his mouth and placed a fish there.
Rodriguez swallowed the fish. “So what do you think?” The zoologist took some notes. “Ah, ok. I’ll let you think on it for a little bit. You don’t talk much anyway. Not that that’s a bad thing.” Rodriguez paused. “I didn’t mean to insinuate anything. Sorry.” Rodriguez swam in an awkward circle. “I wonder what you’re doing over there. Just sitting there and looking at your little thing, marking on it. I wonder what it is.” He bobbed. “Oh, well!”
The trainer came in and gave some hand signals that Rodriguez followed dutifully. He jumped into the air, shouting: “No time like the present!” A back flip: “I love you!” Twisting midair: “I love fish!” And he landed with a splash, the bubbles fizzing to the surface. The trainer fed him several fish after they were finished practicing.
Rodriguez blew bubbles and sprayed water. He thrashed playfully and swam around his pool. Then he floated for a while, dozing.
The next morning, Rodriguez woke up to find the zoologist checking the water. He swam toward the zoologist and watched. “You must really like water.” The zoologist threw Rodriguez a fish. “Mmm. Thanks.” Rodriguez bobbed there still.
After a second he said, “you know, I was thinking about the question I asked you yesterday. I sort of wonder what it’s like to be you. Out of the water all day, free to explore wherever you please.” Rodriguez sprayed water at the zoologist’s instruments. The zoologist tossed another fish out into the water. Rodriguez swam bit back and forth, ignoring the fish to stay close and watch. “I bet you wonder about what it’s like to be me too, don’t you?” Rodriguez swam in a little circle until the zoologist left. Then he held his breath and went under the surface.
He swam and looked around his pool. There was a broad mirror on one side of the pool where Rodriguez liked to go and look, blowing a small trail of bubbles out of his blowhole and looking at himself. Every time he looked he remembered that he was different from the zoologist, even though he had never seen another dolphin. Rodriguez could tell that the thing in the mirror was himself because of the bubbles. He would feel them trickle out of his blowhole and see them in the mirror. Then he would turn around and watch them go up toward the surface, making tiny noises. So he knew that he was watching himself. “This is me. This is Rodriguez.” He wasn’t sure exactly why he existed or where he came from or what he was supposed to do, but he believed in predestination (a dolphin form of predestination) and that was all fine.
Later, the zoologist was taking notes. Rodriguez observed. “Hi there.” He grinned, and the zoologist seemed to know it was a grin. The zoologist winked and tossed a couple of fish. Rodriguez caught them in his mouth and swallowed them whole enthusiastically. “I’ve been thinking.” He bobbed closer to the edge. “I want to show you what it’s like here. You could come and see yourself blow bubbles in the thing.”
Rodriguez studied the zoologist, looking for an answer. The zoologist glanced up from his notes and put the pad down. He walked over to Rodriguez and smiled, patting his head.
His heart skipped a beat. This was it! “Ok!” Rodriguez took the zoologist by the arm into the tank. He pulled him down to the mirror. He thought about how great it was that the zoologist was going to see himself blow bubbles in the mirror. He stayed in front of the mirror with the zoologist, blowing little streams of bubbles out of his blowhole. The zoologist was also blowing bubbles, just more clumsily. Rodriguez liked watching the bubbles.
Then he felt something coming from the other side of the mirror. It was a thumping feeling, like something was hitting it from the other side. It hurt his head, so he swam closer to examine the mirror. Not seeing anything amiss, he looked around, trying to find the cause of the weird thumping feeling. He tapped the mirror a few times with his nose.
Rodriguez heard something jump into the water. He looked and saw the trainer in the water, paddling toward him. Rodriguez squeaked happily and swam in a circle. The zoologist flopped around. The trainer took the zoologist’s arm from Rodriguez’s mouth. Rodriguez was scared and confused as he watched the trainer swim away with the lifeless zoologist. He surfaced, realizing that something was wrong.
“Oh no! What happened?” He bobbed behind the trainer, swimming closer to the edge of the water. “Is he going to be ok? I didn’t mean to do anything!” Rodriguez was very sorry for what had happened, but he didn’t know what exactly happened or if he made it happen. Nobody was looking at him.
“I’m sorry!” He thrashed, confused and a little sad. “I’m sorry!” He tried to grin, but nobody was looking or listening to him. He floated away, facing the opposite direction. “Oh no!” He suddenly took off quickly, swimming near the edge of the pool. He dove to the bottom, clicking anxiously. “I’m sorry!” He didn’t know what else to do, so he jumped. He knew people liked it when he jumped. He landed in the water with a big splash. The wave sprayed out of the pool and knocked the bucket of fish into the water.
The zoologist sputtered to life, gasping for air. His eyes rolled wildly in his head as they took him away. Rodriguez discretely ate some of the fish after everyone left.
“Hey, you.” He waited at the edge of the pool, staring at the zoologist. “Come here.” The zoologist went to Rodriguez and rubbed his bottlenose. “Yes, yes that’s very nice but I really want to talk about something.” The zoologist blinked dumbly before picking up his pen. Rodriguez snorted like dolphins tend to. He waited a moment for the zoologist to become situated.
“I really just have a question.” The zoologist took more notes. “I mean it’s probably so obvious what I’m going to ask you. It’s all I seem to be able to talk about.” Rodriguez came a little closer to the edge of the pool. “What’s it like to love somebody?” The zoologist glanced up distractedly.
“I mean, I have no real good guess, especially since I don’t really know what it feels like. Is it like a really big fish that you have to try really hard to swallow? Or is it like a hundred tiny fish all slithering down in your belly?” He squealed in delight.
“Is it like fish at all?” The zoologist looked at Rodriguez’s beady eyes. Rodriguez watched the zoologist eagerly. The zoologist hummed sagely and shook his head, writing something.
“What’s it like to be out there? I mean it must be strange, walking around.” He clicked several times and left his mouth open. The zoologist got up and patted the inside of his mouth and placed a fish there.
Rodriguez swallowed the fish. “So what do you think?” The zoologist took some notes. “Ah, ok. I’ll let you think on it for a little bit. You don’t talk much anyway. Not that that’s a bad thing.” Rodriguez paused. “I didn’t mean to insinuate anything. Sorry.” Rodriguez swam in an awkward circle. “I wonder what you’re doing over there. Just sitting there and looking at your little thing, marking on it. I wonder what it is.” He bobbed. “Oh, well!”
The trainer came in and gave some hand signals that Rodriguez followed dutifully. He jumped into the air, shouting: “No time like the present!” A back flip: “I love you!” Twisting midair: “I love fish!” And he landed with a splash, the bubbles fizzing to the surface. The trainer fed him several fish after they were finished practicing.
Rodriguez blew bubbles and sprayed water. He thrashed playfully and swam around his pool. Then he floated for a while, dozing.
The next morning, Rodriguez woke up to find the zoologist checking the water. He swam toward the zoologist and watched. “You must really like water.” The zoologist threw Rodriguez a fish. “Mmm. Thanks.” Rodriguez bobbed there still.
After a second he said, “you know, I was thinking about the question I asked you yesterday. I sort of wonder what it’s like to be you. Out of the water all day, free to explore wherever you please.” Rodriguez sprayed water at the zoologist’s instruments. The zoologist tossed another fish out into the water. Rodriguez swam bit back and forth, ignoring the fish to stay close and watch. “I bet you wonder about what it’s like to be me too, don’t you?” Rodriguez swam in a little circle until the zoologist left. Then he held his breath and went under the surface.
He swam and looked around his pool. There was a broad mirror on one side of the pool where Rodriguez liked to go and look, blowing a small trail of bubbles out of his blowhole and looking at himself. Every time he looked he remembered that he was different from the zoologist, even though he had never seen another dolphin. Rodriguez could tell that the thing in the mirror was himself because of the bubbles. He would feel them trickle out of his blowhole and see them in the mirror. Then he would turn around and watch them go up toward the surface, making tiny noises. So he knew that he was watching himself. “This is me. This is Rodriguez.” He wasn’t sure exactly why he existed or where he came from or what he was supposed to do, but he believed in predestination (a dolphin form of predestination) and that was all fine.
Later, the zoologist was taking notes. Rodriguez observed. “Hi there.” He grinned, and the zoologist seemed to know it was a grin. The zoologist winked and tossed a couple of fish. Rodriguez caught them in his mouth and swallowed them whole enthusiastically. “I’ve been thinking.” He bobbed closer to the edge. “I want to show you what it’s like here. You could come and see yourself blow bubbles in the thing.”
Rodriguez studied the zoologist, looking for an answer. The zoologist glanced up from his notes and put the pad down. He walked over to Rodriguez and smiled, patting his head.
His heart skipped a beat. This was it! “Ok!” Rodriguez took the zoologist by the arm into the tank. He pulled him down to the mirror. He thought about how great it was that the zoologist was going to see himself blow bubbles in the mirror. He stayed in front of the mirror with the zoologist, blowing little streams of bubbles out of his blowhole. The zoologist was also blowing bubbles, just more clumsily. Rodriguez liked watching the bubbles.
Then he felt something coming from the other side of the mirror. It was a thumping feeling, like something was hitting it from the other side. It hurt his head, so he swam closer to examine the mirror. Not seeing anything amiss, he looked around, trying to find the cause of the weird thumping feeling. He tapped the mirror a few times with his nose.
Rodriguez heard something jump into the water. He looked and saw the trainer in the water, paddling toward him. Rodriguez squeaked happily and swam in a circle. The zoologist flopped around. The trainer took the zoologist’s arm from Rodriguez’s mouth. Rodriguez was scared and confused as he watched the trainer swim away with the lifeless zoologist. He surfaced, realizing that something was wrong.
“Oh no! What happened?” He bobbed behind the trainer, swimming closer to the edge of the water. “Is he going to be ok? I didn’t mean to do anything!” Rodriguez was very sorry for what had happened, but he didn’t know what exactly happened or if he made it happen. Nobody was looking at him.
“I’m sorry!” He thrashed, confused and a little sad. “I’m sorry!” He tried to grin, but nobody was looking or listening to him. He floated away, facing the opposite direction. “Oh no!” He suddenly took off quickly, swimming near the edge of the pool. He dove to the bottom, clicking anxiously. “I’m sorry!” He didn’t know what else to do, so he jumped. He knew people liked it when he jumped. He landed in the water with a big splash. The wave sprayed out of the pool and knocked the bucket of fish into the water.
The zoologist sputtered to life, gasping for air. His eyes rolled wildly in his head as they took him away. Rodriguez discretely ate some of the fish after everyone left.
