THE DOLPHINS

James opened his eyes as he lay on the bed, he could see the sun shining brightly in a clear blue sky through the window opposite his bed. He got out of the bed and called out.

"Come on Will, it's time to get up".

His brother William turned over in his bed, rubbed his eyes and asked, "What time is it"?

"Its 8 o'clock" came the reply.

William threw back the duvet, got up and they both went downstairs.

"Oh there you both are did you sleep well"? asked their mother as they entered the kitchen.

"Yes thank you. Mum" they both replied.

"Go and sit out on me verandah, I'll bring your breakfast out there".

As they turned to leave the kitchen, the back door opened and in walked their father,

"Hi Mum, Hi Boys. It's a lovely day out there, I've brought you some coke, crisps and biscuits from the shop. You can take with you them to the beach later on".

"Thanks Dad" the boys replied.

James and his younger brother, William had arrived in Barbados the previous night where their parents had rented a villa near to the sea. The villa was a large white wooden building with a red tiled roof, surrounded by tall palm trees and beautiful red, yellow and pink flowers. At the back of the villa was a large verandah, overlooking a long white sandy beach.

When they had finished their breakfast, James asked his father,

"Can William and I go down to the beach please Dad".

"Yes, but don't go into the sea until Mum and I join you".

The two boys went down the verandah steps onto the path that led to the beach. They left the path and stepped onto the white sand that felt soft and warm under their feet.

They ran towards the edge of the sea, leaving a trail of footprints in the sand. They stood at the edge letting the crystal clear blue water wash over their feet as the waves broke gently on the seashore.

"This is fab" said William.

"Yes it is" said James. "But we can't go in until Mum and Dad come. Look there are some rocks over there, we'll go over and see if there are any rock pools with crabs in them".

They ran quickly along the seashore towards the rocks, their feet splashing noisily in the water. As they approached the rocks, they could hear shrill clicking and whistling sounds.

"Who is making those noises"? asked William.

"I don't know" answered James. "They seem to be coming from the other side of the rocks. Come on, let's see what it is".

They clambered over the rocks and there they saw a dolphin swimming around and leaping out of the sea in an agitated manner, whilst uttering loud clicks and whistles.

"What is the matter with her"? asked William.

James did not reply for a minute, but began looking around the rocks.

"Look! Over there" he shouted, as he pointed to a baby dolphin, who was lying in a split in the rocks. It was struggling frantically to get out of the crack, but the more it tried to break free the deeper it sank into the split in the rocks.

"Quick, we'll go over and help him" said James.

They moved quickly over to the little dolphin, whose clicks and whistles were becoming weaker, as he looked up at them with tearful eyes.

"Don't be afraid" said James quietly. "We'll soon get you out of there".

"William, you put your hands under his tail and I will put mine under his head".

They stood either side of the baby dolphin and lifted him carefully out of the crack in the rocks. They carried him to the edge of the rocks and as they lowered him gently into the sea, his mother swam over to them, making soft, soothing squeaks and whistles, as if she was saying thank you to the boys. They stood quietly at the edge of the rocks and watched as the mother shepherded her baby out to sea.

They ran swiftly over beach to the villa and told their mother and father about their adventure.

"Well done, the both of you. What you did was very kind and brave".

James and William were swimming in the sea on the beach by their villa. It was the last afternoon of their holiday. They had had a wonderful time. They had been on a Jeep safari around the island, where they had travelled through a rainforest, spent a day at a huge water theme park, but they both agreed that the best day was when their parents had taken them on a catamaran boat trip. The boat had taken them around the island, stopping at different places, where they went snorkelling in the sea and saw all kinds offish that were all the different colours of the rainbow. At one place they had even been swimming with turtles. It had been a fabulous day.

It was a lovely sunny day and although there was a wind blowing, the sea was nice and warm. James stood staring down into the clear blue water watching a great number of small yellow fish darting around his feet. William was lying on a bluey grey lilo shaped like a dolphin, paddling it backwards and forwards in tlie sea.

Suddenly, there was a huge gust of wind and as James looked up he saw that the lilo had been blown out to sea.

"Hold on tight, Will. I'll get Dad," he shouted.

He ran up the beach towards the villa shouting "Dad, Mum, come quickly".

"What is it"? asked his father, as he ran onto the beach.

"It's William" he said, as he pointed out to sea.

His father raced down the beach, dived into the sea and began swimming powerfully towards William and the lilo, which had been swept further out to sea. As James and his mother stood at the edge of the sea watching his father swimming towards the lilo, the wind began blow strongly and the waves became much bigger.

"Oh, where are they, I can't see them anymore" cried his mother.

"Don't worry Mum. Dad will bring William back safely" said James as he tried to comfort his mother.

They both stood there anxiously, looking for any sign of Mr. Lewis and William.
Suddenly, they heard faint cries coming from their left.

"Look! There Mum" shouted James, as he pointed to two dolphins swimming towards them with Mr. Lewis and William riding on their backs.

"Thank you, thank you" shouted Mrs. Lewis to the dolphins, as Mr. Lewis and William scrambled out of the sea.

As the four of them stood clinging to each other, the two dolphins swam away making a series of loud clicks and whistles.

"A kind act has been repaid in full" said Mr. Lewis.

Bryn Jenkins. November 2003.

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