Making New Friends

The surf was great that day.

After driving to the beach and waxing his board, he headed into the water.  Some killer waves were rolling in.  A great day for surfing.

He needed the distraction.  Something to take his mind off of being an adult.  Yesterday his parents were on his case once again about college and getting a job.

“What are you going to do with your life? Haven’t you chosen a career yet?  You need to enroll in college.”

He had been listening to this barrage over and over for the past year.

He knew they were trying to be supportive and understanding.  His dad would tell him “Listen son, we grew up in different circumstances than you.  Your grandfather was working by the time he was 12 years old.  I started working when I was 16.  If I wanted something, I had to do the work to earn it first.”

Mark thought that sounded a bit excessive.  Who were these people?  His own family no less.  A quick internet search confirmed that his dad was telling the truth.  Things are much different now than they were when his parents and grandparents were young.  Mark realized that he simply couldn’t comprehend a world without internet and video games.  Did they even have running water?  The least he could do for his parents was attempt to see it from their point of view.  They had always given him pretty much everything he wanted.  They never asked for much in return.

The problem was, he didn’t know what he wanted to do.  He was still waiting for the universe to give him a sign.  He didn’t want a career in computers.  Sitting inside all day staring at a monitor was not for him.  He didn’t want to go into a trade either.  He couldn’t spend the rest of his life driving from house to house servicing people’s backed up toilets or broken air conditioners.

Of course he needed to make a living; but at what?  He loved being outside.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature doesn’t pay well.

He didn’t sleep well the night before.  He got up early to avoid round 792 of questioning from his parents and came to the beach.

He wasn’t trying to avoid college or going to work or choosing a career.  He just didn’t know what he wanted to do.  “If I just knew.”, he thought to himself.  He hoped some surfing would clear his mind.  Maybe even bring him the epiphany he was hoping for.  He needed to focus on something else.  Surfing always made him feel strong and calm and in control. 

Out in the water he began catching waves.  The weather report was right for once.  The waves were perfect.

Thirty minutes of surfing was exhilarating.  He saw a wave coming and paddled into it, getting up on his board at the perfect moment.  As he coasted down the wave, he saw something in his peripheral vision.  He glanced over to see what it was.  A fin.  A dorsal fin.   The next instant he was in the water.  He felt his surfboard hit him on the head.

What seemed like only a moment later, he was swimming towards shore.  Wait, no.  He wasn’t swimming.  He was being carried to shore.  There was something under him, propelling him towards the beach.  A moment of panic settled in as he tried to figure out what was happening.  As he started to regain consciousness, he realized he was slung over the back of a bottlenose dolphin.  He felt a pull on his leg.  His surfboard, still connected to his ankle.  Not only that, to his right he saw another fin.  Another dolphin.  They were saving him, and his board.

The dolphin that carried him had a six inch scar on his back, to the left of his dorsal fin.  He studied that scar while trying to keep the salt water out of his mouth.  He needed fresh water.

Both dolphins slowed as they neared the shore.  He knew they were about as close as they wanted to get.  If they went in too far, they risked getting beached without deep enough water to get themselves back out.  Even though he was still groggy, he started to get off the dolphins back to attempt to make it to shore on his own.

Just then the second dolphin started calling towards shore.  Squeaking and squealing and causing quite a fuss.  With its head out of the water, he could see a two-inch scar just behind its left eye.  It was still morning but there were a few people on the beach.  He couldn’t hold himself upright for very long.  He was able to look up every few seconds and see the people looking at the unusual scene in the water, trying to figure out what to do.  This went on for a few minutes.  Then he saw a man heading out into the water towards them.  As soon as the man was in up to his waist, the second dolphin went silent.

The man approached cautiously.  The dolphins stayed still, as if to say they were no threat.  They were just returning this human to its proper place.

“Are you ok?  Do you know your name?”

“I’m not completely okay.  I’m Mark.  Pretty sure I’d be dead if these guys hadn’t saved me.  Thanks for coming out to get me.”

“It took me a minute to comprehend what I was seeing and what the dolphins were doing.  I’m Ted by the way.”

“Hi.  I wasn’t expecting to make new friends today but here we are.”

Once Mark and Ted were safely headed back to shore, the dolphins turned back towards the open ocean and swam away.  Mark was a little sad to see them go.  He felt a strong connection to these creatures that had chosen to save him.  Did they choose to save him?  He knew they were very smart, but he wondered if they had actually chosen their actions.  A small part of him wished he could turn into a dolphin and go with them.  He also realized he had his sign.  A calmness swept over him.

Once they were on the beach, several people gathered around.  They were all talking at once.  Some were asking if he was okay.  Some were commenting on the amazing event they just witnessed.  One of them gave him a bottle of water.

Mark assured them that he was okay.  Just a good whack on the head compliments of his surfboard.  Most of the group told him not to drive and he needed to go to the hospital to get checked out.  In fact, they insisted on it.  He knew they were right.  He didn’t want to leave his car and travel by ambulance.  Ted called his parents.

Twenty minutes later, his anxious parents arrived.   Once they were satisfied that their son didn’t need an ambulance, they insisted on taking him to the hospital.  Before they left, one of the bystanders showed them the video of the whole event.  Everyone had recorded it, and it had already been sent to Mark’s phone.  His parents couldn’t believe what they were seeing.  “I wish I could thank them for saving my son.”, his mother said.  Mark realized he hadn’t actually thanked them either.  Now he wished he had.

Mark got a clean bill of health at the hospital.  He also got a long list of symptoms and warning signs to look out for.

As they headed home, Mark asked if they could make a stop along the way.  “Sure, where do you want to go?”, his dad asked.

“The university.  I know what career I want to look into.”

Mark was in the back seat.  His dad was driving.  Mark saw the smile form on his dad’s face.  He knew the events of the day had changed his son.  How could it not?

“Tell us about it.”, his dad said.

“I want to know more about oceanography.  I’m not exactly sure what yet.  I need to know more about the different careers in that field.  As I watched the dolphins swim away, I saw the ocean in a whole new way.  A good way.  I suddenly realized how precious it is.  I didn’t get to actually thank them.  Maybe this is how I do that.”

“I think that’s a great idea.”, his dad said.  His mom just looked at him from the front passenger seat, beaming.  She was proud of him.  Mark liked that.

Four months later Mark sat at the end of a pier.  The pier was not too far from where his accident had occurred.  He came here often, always hoping he would get to see his saviors again.  He sat with his legs dangling over.  He hoped somehow his ocean friends would know it was him.  Next to him lay an open textbook on marine conservation.  It was one of his assigned books for the Bachelor of Arts in Marine Affairs that he had chosen.  He chose it because he wanted to help the ocean, not just study it.  Marine Affairs covered many topics, such as policies, resources, anthropology and conservation.

As he sat studying and taking notes, he heard a familiar sound.  A dolphin call.  He looked out beyond the end of the pier.  There were two dolphins looking directly at him.  The one on the left was the one making all the fuss.  He grabbed a pair of binoculars from his backpack.  He had been carrying them for the last four months.  He used the binoculars to get a closer look.  The one on the left had a two-inch scar behind its left eye.  He caught a glimpse of the scar on the back of the other one.  It was them.  They knew him.  They were saying hello.

Mark felt tears welling up behind his eyes.  “Hi guys.  It’s great to see you.”  He held up the textbook.  “I’m going to work in marine conservation.  I want to help take care of you and your home and your families.  Thanks for saving me.  You saved me in more ways than one.  I hope you know that.”

They both squeaked and squealed in response.

“I’m going to get my necessary requirements done first.  After two semesters I should be able to go out and do field work.”

Again, they responded in unison.

“I’m going to keep coming here.  I hope you do too.  You guys are my friends now.”

With that they both lifted themselves out of the water, tails still submerged.  They did a little backward slide before splashing back down and turning back toward the open water.  Before they had gone too far, they both leapt out of the water, crossing each other’s paths in an arc before splashing back down.

“I hope that means “Hooray, we’ll be back”., Mark said.  “I know I will.”