I Write Short Stories

"Dance of the Dolphin"

Chapter 3.


"So sweetheart, where are we going?" Although I had overheard her talking to some of our close friends last night about her plans for us today, the suspense was still drivin' me nuts.

** "Well, just around the next bend is Nick's place," she pointed up and to the left, as we passed several small islands almost connected to the shore with mangrove trees covered in Spanish moss.

"Nick's place, I thought I- Did you two cook all this up last night?"

"Well, I thought I'd ask him if it would be ok for us to drop by today." She was keeping something from me as her eyes sparkled when she spoke.

"You know, I felt bad when he told me last night that his son has Down's syndrome."

"It's Autism!" She corrected me. "His son is Autistic!"

"That's right. Anyway, I bet it's not easy on Nick or his wife, I- I don't know if I could deal with any of that." I said, not meaning to be insensitive.

"Nick's son, Jeremy, is a very special and gifted little boy!" - Shit! I upset her.

"Oh I- I'm sure he is, I didn't mean to say that- that he wasn't or that they didn't-"

"It's ok babe! It's ok." She cut me off in mid-sentence, keeping me from babbling on and digging a deeper hole for myself. "In just a few minutes, I will show you, and I don't think you'll ever feel the same again."

"What'd ya mean? What are you going to show me? What are we going to see Liz?"

"Shush! Look, there it is!" She pointed to a cove up ahead that had a long dock extending half-way out from the cove. Two or three boats were tied to the opposite side; Row boat with oars, motorboat next, then there was a beautiful canoe tied in the back. A small white house, partially on stilts, stood about fifty yards back from the dock. I was confused when Liz cut the motor and dropped anchor just short of reaching the dock, keeping us more in the middle of the small lagoon.

"Aren't we going to dock and get out?"

"Just wait a few minutes babe, you'll soon understand and all will be revealed to you." Liz hit one blast on the boat's horn and Nick came out of the house, giving us a friendly wave. I looked at Liz, and she nodded to Nick, who in turn, nodded back to her. He went into the screened-in porch then, came back out with his wife Jenny, who carried their son Jeremy.

She brought him out to the middle of the yard and carefully set him down on the ground next to a big weeping willow tree. She spoke to him, motioned for him to go forward then, she backed off and waited. The boy sat for a moment then, she prodded him again; speaking softly, as only a loving mother could do

He looked around; searching, and next to the trunk of the willow tree was a broken off branch, with two or three fronds of willow. The boy picked it up and marveled at it, like it possessed magical powers. What he did next, was a ritual familiar to him and the others who were present; but this had been arranged specifically for me. He started to sing. It was a song with words incoherent to me, but I felt like it must have been some sort of a nursery rhyme. It was so soothing, so safe.

Jeremy got up as he continued to sing, he started dancing around and around, dipping and twirling the branch up and down in the air, hands raised in praise. Closer and closer he moved towards the edge of the water; all the while, singing and dancing. When he got to the edge, he crumpled onto the sand with the branch dipping in and out of the water. Scooping up a handful of sand, He held it up in praise then, let it sprinkle down into the water. I was fascinated; in awe. "What's this all about, why is he doing-"

"Shush! Just watch and see. Just... experience it." Liz said quietly, cutting me off again. Jeremy got back up and danced to the dock, while his parents watched from the yard, their hands half-covering their face in anticipation of what was about to happen.