Sienna could swim, but her eight-year-old limbs could only handle a couple of pool lengths before their strength was exhausted. Since we were in the Southern Pacific, one of the largest expanses of water on the planet, she was sporting a pair of bright yellow water wings on her small biceps. The water was near body temperature so that rather than feeling like we were in the water, It felt more like we were a part of the water.
Sienna smiled and giggled as she pretended to be a clownfish. We were about two-hundred yards from the shore of the island where we had rented a waterfront room. With my feet flat on the ground, the water came up high on my chest, while Sienna was fully floating beside me. The texture of the sand between my toes and the tinge of salt in every breath, combined with having the most important thing in my world right next to me, to make me feel whole for the first time since the divorce. I realized that even though the quantity of time I had with my daughter had been curtailed, the quality of that time could compensate.
The water stretched before us to the horizon, unbroken by ship or sail. It felt as if we could walk all the way to Australia if we wanted to. I felt a stab of panic in my chest as I saw a pair of fins break the water just a few yards in front of us, but that subsided with the emergence of the sleek gray foreheads of a pair of bottlenose dolphins. They cackled at us maniacally, causing Sienna to erupt into spasms of laughter.
“Can we touch them, daddy?”
“No, sweetie. They look friendly, but they’re powerful and dangerous animals. The best way to show wild animals respect is to keep our distance.” She nodded with a mixture of disappointment and understanding.
“That’s what my teacher, Ms. Witherspoon, says.”
Three more dolphins joined the pair who were already in front of us. The first two swam closer, within inches, then one of them pressed into my chest with its nose. It was pushing me. To my alarm, another dolphin nudged Sienna, causing her to float behind me. She wasn’t scared, though.
“Do they want to play?” she asked.
Before I could answer, the five dolphins started to swim around us in a circle, keeping us pinned to the patch of water we occupied. I looked around and saw another dolphin swimming about thirty yards farther out from our position. This one seemed larger and had a different-looking fin. I grabbed Sienna in horror and clutched her to my side as I realized I was looking at a fifteen-foot-long shark. The dolphins didn’t want to play. They were lifeguards, and they were very much on duty.
Literature in Small Doses 