When I was a little girl, in Flagler Beach, Florida, my Dad managed a local restaurant, on the Atlantic Ocean, Highway A1A. It was a solitary life for a little girl, so my father would often ship me off to stay with friends.

One week, I went to stay with friends at "Matanza's Inlet", a place that is now a part of the Intracoastal Waterway. Pristine and beautiful, it was one of my favorite spots. I loved visiting with these friends, who had two children about my age, and we prowled the waterways, getting into trouble.

One day, as the children were swimming in one of the canals, and I was standing on the shore, afraid to go into deep water, I began taunting them with how well I could swim, "if I wanted to!". Tired of my taunts, the children, ages eight and nine, climbed out of the canal, grabbed me, and threw me in!

Panic seized me! I flailed and flailed, swallowing half the canal. I managed to gasp to the surface, like a dying whale, as these children realized, with horror, that I couldn't swim! Filled with terror, they quickly jumped in to save me! Then, just as quickly, they jumped ashore, screaming, "Shark! Shark!"

I was paralyzed with fear, as I screamed, through tons of water, "God, save me!" At that moment, I felt a bump against me. A pair of jaws opened wide and I saw rows of needle sharp teeth. I had no idea that I was floating! Silently, with ice searing through my veins, I awaited my fate!

"Oh, please! God!" I croaked, suddenly realizing that the "shark" was turning a fin towards me, and bumped me again. Then I heard the sound of high pitched laughter. Who knows what I thought at that moment. I grabbed the fin and I found the shore hurtling swiftly towards me, until I felt the sand bar under my feet. I scrambled up the sand, as racking sobs shook me, and I fell upon the beach.

By this time, my little friends were jumping up and down, screaming with laughter, and pointing out into the canal! I turned to look and I saw! It wasn't a shark, but a bottle-nosed dolphin! He was waving a fin and cackling with a high-pitched laugh, or so it seemed. Tears and sobs turned to uncontrollable glee. We laughed so hard that we fell on the sand. Relief coursed through me, as tears of joy flooded my eyes.

Terror forgotten, as only children can do, it now became a great adventure. My friends jumped in, squealing with delight, as the dolphin splashed, teased, and played with them. It went on for what seemed like hours. I stayed on the shore, filled with an aching, longing -- for I couldn't swim.

It was soon time to leave and my friends, looking like suntanned prunes, slipped out of the water. We gathered our things and turned to leave. But, the dolphin didn't go. He came far too close to shore and lay in the shallows, laughing. We turned, and I swear he was looking at me! He swam a yard away and he waved a fin. He seemed to beckon and I ran out through the shallows and into the deepest part that I dared. He swam up to me -- this beautiful, glistening miracle! His fin touched me gently, and I instinctively grabbed on to him. Over the top of the water he sailed. I was holding on for dear life! He swam and swam with me, around the canal, to places even my friends would not go. It was as if he knew that this would be my first, and last, such adventure.

I squealed with delight as he gently nudged me ashore. We waved and cheered as he leaped into the air and came down with a splash, only to disappear from sight. Of course, no one believed us but we didn't care. For we had experienced an unforgettable journey into the miraculous world of the bottle-nosed dolphin.

Copyright © Jaye Lewis
July 23, 2001