~Continued from Part One~
The pool remained still, and Dan continued for twenty minutes before
finally deciding that she wasn't coming back. He went to the spring,
and used the fresh water to wash off his face.
The next few days were quiet and lonely for Dan, and he realized just
how big a difference Susie had made in his life. Fishing was not only
more difficult, he just didn't feel like trying. It just didn't feel
right anymore, since Susie had actually made getting his daily meal
enjoyable. Dan spent a lot of his time moping around, wondering why he
had been so cruel to her, or splashing the water, calling for her. He
even tried sticking his face under the water and calling her name, but
it all seemed to be for nothing. Susie never answered. More than once
Dan awoke from a sound sleep, sure that he heard her, but he never saw
her, nor even a ripple in the pond to indicate that she had been there.
He felt she was gone forever.
An odd rising, then falling, wailing sound woke Dan up one night, and
he looked around in the dark for the source. His eyes, quickly adjusted
to the dim light of the night, quickly picked up a shape on the beach,
and he recognized it as a dolphin.
"Susie?" he whispered, getting up to run over to it. The wail sounded
again, coming right from the dolphin.
As he approached her, he saw a shaft, roughly a foot long with a ragged
end, sticking out of her back. Dan carefully ran his hand down her back,
around the shaft. He soon felt the roughness of the healed shark bite,
and knew it was indeed Susie.
"Oh, Susie! What happened to you? Just a moment, I've got to stoke the
fire. I need light!"
He splashed some water onto her back, and rubbed her lightly. Then he ran
to the dying fire and threw a few dry leaves on it. Blowing gently on
it, he quickly had a flame going, and added to it with more dry leaves,
and then some sticks. Quickly, he ran back to Susie, and examined the
shaft in the flickering light.
It had been a hand-thrown wooden-shafted spear, and the shaft had
broken off. The point penetrated into her skin, he wasn't sure how
far. The blood around the wound had already largely dried, and yet, a
small flow continued. Susie moved in discomfort as he felt the shaft.
"It's ok, Susie. I'm going to help you. I don't know how, but God knows,
I'm going to help you."
Susie's voice was weak, and yet, somehow urgent as she vocalized a
question in reply.
"brr-e-ee?" she asked.
Dan recognized the question that she'd asked before, and it seemed so
long ago. All his anguish and guilt came out, and he wrapped his arms
around her, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
"Yes, Susie, yes! I love you, and I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!
I'm so sorry! Please, you have to get better, I couldn't forgive myself
if you died!"
"ee-eooo," replied Susie, weakly. Her eyes closed, briefly, and then
opened again, and she tried to move, but she was obviously very weak.
"Don't try to move," Dan told her, standing up. He wiped his eyes dry,
and took another look at the spear.
"We have to get that out," he said. "I don't know how deep it is.." He
turned to look Susie in the eye. "It's going to hurt, and it's going to
bleed. Please know that I'm trying to help you. I don't want to hurt you,
but I have to."
Susie replied with a weakly rising whistle. Dan hoped that it was a sign
of understanding. He walked over to the fire and took a stick, about the
same size as the spear, which was burning well on one end. He walked back
to Susie. She didn't move.
"I'm going to try to use this to cauterize the wound, Susie. I'm hoping
it will stop the bleeding, okay?"
Susie only blinked. Her eyes were cloudy with pain, and Dan realized that
he had to act quickly.
"Okay." He went over to the side where the spear was, and wiggled it
slightly to try to determine it's depth and how securely it was lodged.
Susie whistled her rising-falling tone again, weakly.
"Susie, I'm sorry, I'm not trying to hurt you. Please, I'm doing
the best I can."
The spear wasn't as deep as he'd previously feared, just over an inch
into her flesh. He saw that the point was metal, and had short barbs
on it. He also saw that his movement had started the blood flowing more
freely. Dan ran back to his bed and grabbed the remains of his shirt,
which he had been using as a pillow. He soaked the shirt quickly in the
spring, and ran back to Susie.
"I'm trying, Susie, I really am. Please hang on."
Susie uttered a weak moan. Dan rubbed her back lightly.
"I'm going to try to remove the spear now."
He turned to her, and began to tilt the spear to free one of the barbs,
hoping not to make the wound much worse than it was. Susie flinched, and
Dan let go quickly, trying not to drive the spear in.
"Susie, please try to stay still!"
He continued working on the spear, trying not to cause Susie much pain.
Sweat began to bead on his forehead with his concentration, and his
heart pounded as he saw the increased flow of blood.
Finally, he had to spear ready to remove. He glanced at the stick, which
had burned out. It was too late to get another now, he'd have to make
do with a bandage.
"Here goes," he whispered. He pulled the spear free from Susie's side.
She flinched again, and he quickly slammed the shirt against the wound
and folded it into a pad.
The flow of blood was not as much as he'd expected, but he was
somewhat concerned by it anyway. He held the pad firmly against
the wound, hoping to slow or stop the bleeding quickly. He rubbed her
side and spoke quietly to her, and she remained quiet. He thought that
she seemed to be in less pain, though.
After a few minutes, he cautiously removed the shirt. The blood flow
had slowed to a small trickle. Dan washed the shirt in the spring, and
lightly rubbed the cool water all over Susie's body. He almost thought
she smiled at him as he rubbed down her face, and he felt that everything
would be all right. After he rubbed her down so she was sufficiently damp,
he returned his pressure to the wound.
He kept up this pattern for about an hour, until he felt the wound had
stopped bleeding enough to be safe. It was much smaller a wound than he
had thought it would be, but still, he realized that if he hadn't
removed the spear that Susie would likely have died from it.
"Why would anyone try to hurt someone as beautiful as you?" asked Dan.
Susie moved her head up towards him, looking for more personal attention,
and Dan obliged by rubbing her beak and melon. "Susie, I'm sorry I
chased you away, please don't leave me again. I really thought about
it, and I couldn't think of any sensible reason why we can't be
friends...and lovers. I really need you in my life."
Susie replied with a light whistle, and Dan was content. "Let's get you
back into the water, you can't stay on the beach with me."
Susie was soon enough back in the water, and resting in the shallows.
The water and the movement had opened the wound up a bit, but there was
very little new blood, and Dan felt that she would actually be all right
now. He was glad, and he hugged her.
Dan slept in the shallows, as near to Susie as he could, for a short
while. He woke up, and looked over at Susie, still resting. She was
sitting on the bottom, though there was enough water for her to move.
"Susie?" asked Dan. "Are you all right?"
Susie replied with a weak whistle. Dan realized that she would need a
few days to get her strength back, if she moved too much now she might
rip the wound wide open again. He'd have to get food for her.
He gathered up his spear. He considered using the spear that he had
pulled out of Susie, but he couldn't bring himself to touch it. The
thought of using it himself disgusted him. He made a mental note to
bury it somewhere later.
"Susie, stay here and rest. I have to get some food for both of us."
She looked up at him. He saw a depth in her eyes that he hadn't realized
before, and something that implied love and trust, and most of all,
understanding. He shook his head, unsure as to whether what he saw was
real or not. He gave Susie another hug, and a kiss on the melon.
"I'll be back soon," he promised. Then he waded into the water and swam
out of the cave.
He began his fishing with a renewed vigour and purpose that he hadn't
experienced in anything he'd ever really done before. Someone was
counting on him, and he couldn't let her down. He wouldn't let her down.
He reached the best fishing spot, off a point of the island. Susie had
brought him to this spot before, but now he would have to catch the fish
himself. He moved slowly, and smoothly, so as to not alert the fish that
were in the area.
Then he saw one, a big one. It was moving slowly nearby, almost
ignoring him. Dan stopped, watching it. He'd let fish like this escape
him in the past, but not this one. It was a start.
The fish paused, testing the waters. Dan tensed up, readying himself
for a lunge if the fish should take off.
The fish seemed to decide that all was well, and continued meandering
around, looking for food.
Dan struck, jabbing his spear smoothly and skillfully into the water.
He raised it up, hoping beyond hope.
He had it!
Things went well for Dan. He caught three fish in total, then decided
he had better get back and check on Susie.
She was roughly where he had left her, but she had turned around to
watch the mouth of the cave. He felt the sandstorm effect on his body
when he swam in, then heard a slightly weak whistle of greeting.
"Hi Susie," he called, "I have dinner!"
She whistled back, and started to wriggle out of the shallows to swim
towards him.
"Stay there," called Dan, stopping. "Don't hurt yourself, I'll bring
it to you."
She seemed to understand, and stopped moving. Dan swam up to her, and
laid out the fish on the beach. Susie was trying to turn around again,
and Dan picked up the biggest fish and waded into the water in front
of her, so she could see him.
"This one is for you, Susie. It's my turn to give you a present."
He offered it to her, and she opened her mouth. He carefully placed the
fish in her mouth, and she seemed to taste it for a moment before
closing her mouth and swallowing it.
"Good.. good. You're eating! Wait! I'll get you another one."
Dan waded back to the shore and grabbed the other two fish. He brought
them back in front of Susie, and offered her another. She hesitated,
then took it.
"You must really be hungry, Susie. How long since you ate? Do you want
the last one?"
Susie did not open her mouth for the third fish, turning her head away
from it.
"What's wrong, Susie? Are you full?"
Susie replied by lifting her head towards him, a movement Dan had come
to realize meant that she wanted him to pet her, and he happily obliged.
"Susie, I'm so glad you'll be all right."
The wound healed quickly over the next few days, and a week later only a
small scar showed where the spear had penetrated. Dan had also noticed a
small scar where he had struck her with the rock, and it served as a
constant reminder to him. He apologized to Susie for it countless times,
and she always responded by lifting her head, asking him to pet her. She
seemed to forgive him, but Dan was unsure if he'd ever fully forgive
himself.
Most times with her were very happy, however. They quickly got back into
their old routine - him trying to sleep, and her waking him after a few
hours. When awake, they spent most of their time together. Susie
occasionally went off on her own, but she never seemed to be gone for
more than an hour or so. Dan did wonder what she did when he was
sleeping, but he suspected that she tried to amuse herself, and woke him
up when she ran out of ideas.
One day, while they were in the shallows, Susie began trying to arouse
him again. Dan pulled back, and stopped rubbing her body. She looked at
him, curiously, and wriggled towards him again, and again Dan pulled back.
"Beeeeeeee?" asked Susie. She didn't seem to understand.
Dan thought hard, and was silent for several minutes. He wasn't sure if
he was ready for this again. Even though he'd convinced himself that it
was merely an act of love, somehow it still didn't seem right.
"Susie, I don't know if you can understand this, but I'm not ready yet."
She looked at him, and the question in her eyes dissolved. She moved her
flipper lightly up the side of his chest, and then drew it away from his
body. She then moved back so that she was laying nearly face-to-face with
him again, and looked him close up in the eye. From a slight distance
she could look straight at him, but close up she had to use only one eye
to look at him, and she did so now. Dan had realized that whether she
used one eye or two, she was still looking with the same intensity, still
trying to convey to him what she was feeling in her mind and in her heart.
Somehow, looking into her eye, he realized that she understood, and
accepted him. He thought that she was telling him that she would wait
as long as it took for him to be ready. Dan laughed and hugged her,
rolling her over in the shallow water.
She squealed with happy surprise, and started to rub herself against
him, but he drew away.
"No, Susie, I'm not ready."
She stopped, and uttered a lower falling tone whistle, and a few
clicks. She sounded very disappointed.
"I'm sorry, Susie. I have to be ready for this. I wasn't ready last time."
He got off her, and helped her roll upright again. Then he did not touch
her.
"Brr-eee?" asked Susie, quietly.
Dan turned to her, wishing he knew exactly how to tell her why he wasn't
ready, wishing he knew himself. The language Susie understood best was
the language of his touch, and his caresses. Body contact was important
to her, and he could understand how such a custom might lead to frequent
sexual acts. But he'd only really accepted the touching for now, he felt
that he couldn't go further yet... and accept it.
"Susie, yes, you know I love you." He ran his fingers lightly down
her back, away from the rough tissue of the shark bite, down to her
flukes, then back up to the top of her melon again. Then, on impulse, he
started to massage the muscles of her back and tail.
She seemed to love it, and she arched her back into his hands, as he
rubbed and massaged her. Her skin was soft, and her muscles were firm
as he stretched and squeezed them. Susie uttered a few warbling tones
of pleasure, and Dan smiled. He continued massaging her, slowly working
his way down towards her flukes, and across her entire body. When he
reached her flukes, he reached underneath and began to massage her
underside. She rolled over a bit to make it easier for him.
Dan hesitated a moment when she rolled over, then continued massaging,
above her belly. He looked up at her face, and thought for a moment
there was a playful gleam in her eye, one that said "Next time I'll
get you!"
Dan chuckled. "Maybe next time you will," he replied.
The next few weeks were pretty routine. Susie didn't try to push herself
on him anymore, she just lay next to him in the shallows and cuddled with
him, like she usually did. Dan appreciated that she was so patient, and
vowed silently to himself that he would make her happy one day soon.
Dan gradually felt his acceptance of Susie, and his love for her,
growing stronger and more certain. Her gentle and unconditional
acceptance of him fed the flames of his love. Not once was she ever
angry with him, and she was never away from him for more than a few
hours. At the same time Dan began to subconsciously recognize more and
more of Susie's gestures and movements, and he could almost always tell
what was on her mind, or what she wanted to tell him. He still spoke to
her, but he knew that she understood by his tone, his gestures, and his
touch, far more than by the words he spoke. In much the same way, this
was how he understood her.
One night, Dan had a dream. He'd been on the island with Susie for five
or six months, and it caught him off-guard, because he dreamt of Kathy.
In the dream she was married to him, and they were cuddling on the couch
in his living room. They began kissing heavily, and he removed her top.
She was not wearing a bra, and her large breasts fell out, and he kissed
and massaged them. He removed her pants, and kissed her while she removed
his shirt and pants. Then he drew close to her, and wrapped his arms
around her, holding her tight against his body as he kissed her. He
lightly ran his hand down her back, and suddenly felt the rough tissue
of Susie's healed shark bite. It didn't bother him in the dream, that
Kathy had suddenly become Susie, and he continued kissing and rubbing her
as he had been.
Suddenly they were on the beach, and he was making love to her. Susie
was uttering her half-squeal and half-moan of pleasure, and Dan could
almost feel her skin against his.
He felt that he'd finally crossed the boundary in his mind that had held
him back for so long. Finally he felt he could accept her love in all
it's forms... that it didn't matter if Susie was human or dolphin,
because they loved each other.
He woke up, aroused and sweating. He knew now that he was ready to be a
complete partner with Susie. But he would wait until later to show her,
he didn't want lust to be his drive as much as his love. He closed his
eyes again, ignoring the throbbing in his loins, and was soon asleep again.
Naturally, he didn't sleep much longer before Susie's impatient chatter
woke him up. He rubbed his eyes and sat up wearily.
"I don't believe it, Susie. You let me sleep in today by what, ten,
fifteen minutes?"
"REEEE-oo!" replied Susie happily. Dan chuckled and went into the water.
She swam up to him, and he hugged her tightly against his body. He gave
her a quick kiss on the end of her beak. Susie backed off, and keeping
her head above the water, spun around a few times, then fell into the
water in a mock swoon. Instantly she was poking her head up again,
looking at him for approval.
"Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh!" she laughed.
Dan chuckled, too. "Where did you learn that one?" he asked. Susie
merely swam back up to him, and wrapped her flippers around his body
in another embrace. Dan hugged her back.
"So, Susie," he began. "You ready for breakfast now?"
Later that night, Dan and Susie lay cuddling in the shallows again.
Dan never tired of her soft, smooth skin against his, and it seemed that
she never tired of his company, either. Dan remembered his dream, and
the memory aroused him slightly. He began massaging Susie's body again.
Susie sighed, happily, and relaxed, and Dan looked up at her face. She
looked content and happy, and Dan wondered how best to communicate his
intent.
Slowly, he worked his hands down to her underside, and began massaging
her stomach area. Susie rolled onto her side a bit to give him better
access, and as he rubbed he looked down at her underbelly. He watched
the movements as she waved her tail slowly in the warm water, and he
felt himself becoming more aroused.
He began to work his hands down her belly, massaging firmly along the
way. Susie closed her eyes and opened her mouth in a silent sigh as
Dan rubbed downwards. The white skin of her underbelly took on a bright
pinkish color, which spread slowly up her belly.
He wrapped his arms around her body, feeling the love flow between them
as their souls themselves merged into one being. Susie turned a bit,
and wrapped her flippers around him as best she could. She then moved
her tail up between his legs, and wrapped her flukes around one of
his feet.
As they loved, Dan felt enveloped in love and warmth, and he let himself
go. When done, they rested together. Susie made her way over to him,
before he had time to sit up and face her, and he stroked her face in
his hands, gazing deeply into her eyes.
"I love you, Susie. I'm going to stay with you forever."
For once, Susie was quiet, apparently content to be held and pet.
Days passed, and Dan and Susie were closer than they had ever been. Dan
had found perfect happiness and all the love he had ever wanted with
Susie, and he felt that she loved him just as much as he loved her. They
spent all their time together, playing games, sharing quiet moments, and
making love. Making love didn't bother Dan anymore, though Susie could
be a demanding partner on occasion. But Dan didn't mind, he loved her
so much he was willing to show her any way he could.
Occasionally Susie would bring him things she had found, too. She seemed
to recognize that they had come from the human world. Over time, Dan
collected a large number of items, including a portable radio (not
working, Dan didn't know if it was just the battery or if the water
had destroyed it), several sets of swim fins, a snorkle, three masks,
two watches, a couple more lighters, a jacknife, and even a few pieces
of jewelery. He often used the fins while playing with Susie, but was
uncomfortable with the snorkle and found the masks awkward. The knife
proved very useful for cleaning fish and cutting spears.
Over time, Dan also got better at making things out of the plants that
populated the island, and spent many evenings building a net out of
twisted vines, to help him catch fish more easily. He also diverted the
flow of the fresh water, and dug a small pit high on the beach to hold
the fresh water before it ran into the sea. Life was good. Simple, fun,
and full of love.
One day he and Susie had abandonded their fishing to play tag. Dan found
that Susie was far more maneuverable and quick in the water than he was,
and as such, he was almost always 'it'. But she stayed in a fairly small
area to make it easier for him. It no longer amazed him how quickly she
could pick up on new games. He was used to it, and expected it.
Suddenly, she stopped, and faced away from the beach.
"Susie, what is it?" ased Dan. She swam out a few feet, where the
water dropped deeper, and Dan saw her drop her tail and point her
flukes out in the direction she was facing. She was making the creaking
noise, that Dan knew meant she was examining something.
He looked, but saw nothing above or below the surface. He swam out to her.
Susie turned quickly towards him, and uttered a single high-pitched
whistle. She began pushing him, butting lightly against his chest.
"What is it?" he asked again, urgently. Susie stopped, suddenly, and
chattered at him, even more quickly than usual. Dan saw a look of fear
in her eyes, and a plead that he hurry.
Slightly shaken, Dan turned for the beach and began to swim. Susie came
up behind him and started pushing on his rear. It was only a short distance
to the shore, and with Susie's help he was on it in seconds.
"Susie? ..." Dan stopped when he stood up and looked at the water.
Susie turned too. In the distance Dan saw three triangular dorsal fins
slashing through the surface of the water, heading roughly towards them.
"Sharks!" cried Dan in recognition. Panicked, he ran back to Susie
and leapt on her.
"Come on," he cried, tugging at her. "We have to get you out of the
water!"
Susie struggled against him, whistling and chattering. She was too
heavy for Dan to lift, and he grabbed her flukes and tried dragging
her. All he could think was to get her onto the beach where she would
be safe.
The sharks had apparently detected the struggle, and had turned slightly
to be bearing directly towards them. They were fairly close when Susie
suddenly took action. She flicked her tail, causing Dan to lose his
grip and fall backwards into the water. With a quick turn, she charged
hard at Dan, and struck him. He was knocked back several feet, and
landed at the edge of the water. The wind knocked out of him, he lay
there trying desperately to catch his breath, as he watched.
Susie then tried to flee into the ocean, but the sharks were already
upon her, and were circling. Susie turned this way and that, but was
unable to find an opening. Every so often the sharks darted in towards
her, and she snapped at them, driving them back.
Suddenly she charged at one, and struck it in the gills with her beak.
Blood flowed, and the shark swam wobbily off a bit. Susie charged and
struck again, and the shark began to sink, leaving two. The two
remaining sharks quickened their motions, and, excited by the blood,
grew more daring in their attacks.
Susie's movements also became quicker, and more agitated, as the sharks
still blocked her every escape attempt. She charged again, and a
second shark sank, oozing blood from it's broken gills.
The last shark took advantage of Susie's turning away from him, and
attacked as Susie backed off from her charge. It bit down solidly
on her flukes, and Susie screamed a loud, rising whistle. The shark
shook violently, tearing the fins, but released her, finding no meat
there.
She tried to manuever for another charge, but the pain and the physical
damage to her tail was making it difficult. Dan saw that he had to
help. Panting, still trying to get his breath back, he grabbed his
fishing spear off the beach, where he had tossed it to play, and leapt
into the water.
The shark, sensing a victory, charged again, and latched onto Susie's
lower flank with it's huge jaws. Susie screamed again, with a loud rising
then falling whistle of pain. The shark held on tightly as Susie shook
hard, trying to free herself from it's grip.
Dan reached them quickly, and threw his entire body into driving the
spear into the shark's body. He struck, and the shark released it's
hold, and began thrashing violently. It's teeth slashed Dan's chest and
arms, and he began to bleed, but he held on. Soon the shark's thrashing
slowed, then ceased. Dan sighed, panting, and looked around. The water
was cloudy with blood, and he couldn't see Susie.
"Susie?" he called, splashing the water. She surfaced, weakly, near
him, then almost immediately began to sink again. Dan ran over and
grabbed her, trying to hold her up. She whistled her pain cry again,
and Dan looked at her side. A large chunk of her flesh had been torn
off, and she was bleeding badly. Through the water it was hard to tell,
but Dan feared it was even worse than first glance.
"Susie! Susie!" he cried, hugging her. "I'm so sorry! This is my
fault.. I should have left the water when you told me to! I should
have trusted you!"
Susie whistled weakly. Dan moved back, and tried to get a better
position to hold her at the surface.
"Come on," he said. "We have to get back to the cave. We'll be safe there."
They finally got back into the cave. Dan found all the way that he had
to help Susie stay near the surface, and she seemed to be in a great
deal of pain. He felt extremely guilty, feeling that it was his fault
she was hurt. He was also very afraid that she was going to die.
He led her over to the shallow water, and then faced her. Her eyes were
cloudy with pain, and yet, he saw a spark of love in them, too. He
smiled for a moment, then he ran his eyes down her body and saw the blood.
"Rest for a moment, Susie. I have to block the entrance, so that more
sharks can't get in here."
He took the net he had made, and strung it as best he could across the
mouth of the cave, catching it on rocks on either side. When he was
satisfied that it would stay, he swam quickly back to Susie, laying
half in and half out of the water. She was laying very still.
"Susie!" he yelled, frightened.
She moved slightly, and opened her eyes to look at him. He saw pain, and
a plead for help. The water around her was already red with her blood,
and Dan felt very sick with fear. The wound was very bad, and quite large,
and Susie was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.
Dan looked wildly around the beach, and spied the remains of his shirt,
still slightly stained from the spear, despite his efforts to clean it.
He ran for it, and washed it off in the spring. He then grabbed a few
extra vines, and ran back to Susie.
She whistled weakly in pain as he spread the shirt over her wound, and
began tying it on tightly with the vines.
"Susie, Susie," he kept repeating. "Please be all right. PLEASE!
I need you! I'm sorry!"
She moaned slightly, and opened her eyes. She raised her head, giving
him the 'I need attention' pose, only much more slowly and weakly than
usual.
"I have to finish tying this, Susie! Please!"
"err--oo," she replied, very quietly. Again she raised her head, pleading
with him with her eyes.
Dan shook his head, fighting the tears and the anger.
"No," he cried, "no! Susie, no! You're going to be all right!"
She looked at him again, and her eyes were very sad. The cloudiness of
her pain was in the background, and Dan could see right into her soul.
"Brr-eee," she sounded, weakly. 'You love me,' read Dan. A statement,
this time, and not a question.
"Err...err-ooo," she finished. 'I love you.'
In his heart, Dan knew she was dying. He could see that she knew as
well. She was telling him goodbye. His pain surfaced with surprising
force, and he wrapped his arms around her, laying over her. Tears poured
from his eyes, and he called her name over and over.
"Susie, no!" he sobbed. "Please don't leave me! Susie!"
Susie watched him, sadness in her eyes. He felt closer to her than he
ever had, and he heard her thoughts as if they were his own.
'I'm sorry, my time is done. Thank you for being here. Thank you for
being my mate. I loved you, always remember that. I will always be
with you, in your heart.'
Susie closed her eyes one last time. She shuddered slightly, and then
exhaled one final sigh. Her flukes stopped moving, and she was gone.
Dan's sobbing began again, with new force, and he lay with her for a
long time, holding her, and sobbing at his loss.
Dan buried Susie on the opposite beach from the attack, far from the
sharks. In another way it felt like the best place, because Dan and Susie
had spent evenings here, watching the sun set. Dan hadn't been sure, at
the time, if Susie appreciated the sunsets the way he had. Now,
however, he was sure that she had, if only because it was important to
him.
It took him a long time, and he cried a lot. But he was eventually
finished. No more would he hear her happy chirp, nor feel the soft
warmth of her caress. He looked up into the sky, tears streaming down
his face, and prayed that she was in a good place.
He looked a long time for a suitable marker, and finally found a large,
flat rock. He struggled to drag it over to the grave, but finally got
it there. Using the knife, he chipped an inscription.
"Susie - My love, I will remember."
He stood by the grave, head down, and cried some more.
He spent the next few days sitting on the top of the cliff, over his
cave, staring out at the sea. Several times, well off in the distance,
he noticed boats speeding around. But he did not care.
Once, he saw a pod of dolphins swimming past the island, a mile or
two out. He watched them, but they did not come towards the island,
and he was saddened.
During this time, Dan did not eat, and he drank very little. His health
was getting poor, but he did not notice, or care to notice. All he cared
was that Susie was gone.
One day he heard an odd chopping noise above the island, and he looked up,
weakly. He watched with amazement as a helicopter approached the island,
and stopped over the beach, lowering itself behind the trees so that
Dan could not see what was happening.
He realized with a start that it was the beach where he had buried
Susie, and he got up, and began a weak, stumbling run towards it, to
see what was happening.
He reached the beach to see the helicopter floating on the quiet sea,
on pontoons, and two men standing in the sand. One was just standing
up in front of the marker when the other noticed Dan, and pointed at
him. They were both wearing t-shirts and new blue-jeans, and the first
one was wearing a cap. The second wore no hat, but had neatly
trimmed dark hair.
The man with the cap looked over, and saw Dan as he stepped out onto
the beach. He was long unshaven, and wearing only his badly worn and
faded jeans. He was also rather thin and pale from lack of eating
over the last few days.
"Good lord!" called the man. He ran up to Dan. "Are you alright?"
Dan blinked in confusion. "Wh.. what are you doing here?" he asked.
His voice was dry from lack of food and water.
"We were flying around, out by the mainland there," the man pointed
out over the water, "and my partner was looking around with his
binoculars." The man with the dark hair held up a pair of binoculars.
"He saw a couple of flashes of light from here, and we came to check it
out."
He handed a knife to Dan. It was the one he had used to carve the grave
marker. "Found this in the sand. Lucky for you we came, I guess!"
He grew serious for a moment. "But, I'm... sorry about your wife."
"My wife?" asked Dan, absently taking the knife.
"'Susie'," replied the man, pointing at the marker.
"Susie," repeated Dan slowly, turning his head downward and squeezing
his eyes to shut off the tears that were starting to flow already.
"Poor guy," muttered the man with the dark hair. "Least we can do is
take him back to the mainland."
"Yup," replied the man in the cap. "Hey, buddy," he said to Dan. "Come
on, it'll be all right. Get in the helicopter, and we'll take you home."
Dan obediantly waded into the water, and the man with the dark hair
helped him into the helicopter, seating him in the back. The other two
men climbed into the front seats, and closed the door.
They began to warm up the engine, and the machine began to make it's
chopping sounds. The man with the cap turned back.
"What's your name, buddy?" he asked.
Dan paused, thinking slowly, weakly. His thoughts were still muddled
with the pain of his loss.
"My.. name," he replied. It came to him, slowly. "Dan," he stated.
The helicopter lifted off the water, and began to fly across it.
"Well, Dan," said the man with the cap, "my name is Doug, and that
there is Steve."
"How long were you on that island?" asked Steve.
"I.. don't know," replied Dan.
"Well, don't you worry," Doug told him. "We're going to have you back in
civilization in no time!"
Civilization. The word struck a chord in Dan's mind. It echoed in his
head, looking for a place to seat itself, where it's meaning would
finally be recognized.
Finally, it found a place. Civilization. War. Suffering. Violence.
Crime. Civilization. Guilt. Blame. Threats. Punishment. Civilization.
Hatred. Greed. Loneliness.
Dan looked up, suddenly. "NO!" he yelled. Doug and Steve looked back at
him, startled, as he jumped up and grabbed the door handle. Dan could
not go back to a life without love. He would not go back to a world more
interested in making money than having love. He would take his chances in
the ocean, where, when love happens, it's not crushed in pursuit of the
perfect ideal or greatest profit. He opened the door, and jumped.
=============================================================
Notes:
I'm sitting here, at 6:54am, having just finished (but not proofread)
this story. I feel I must add a few notes about it.
This is a powerful story for me. In the course of writing it, I've
laughed, and I've been close to tears. My own reactions somewhat
surprised me, but I hope I've conveyed some of the same feelings to you.
I took liberties with Susie, of course. Perhaps I made her a little
more human than she might otherwise have been. But this is easier to
write than to try to describe in text the invisible, indescribable
bond that love actually creates, and the unspoken understanding it
can generate.
However it ended, this was not meant as a negative story, but a
celebration of the life of one man, and his lover. Here, it was
a dolphin. It could have been a horse, a woman, or a Martian, but
the feelings expressed are the same. Only the means of expressing
them differ.
I'm also not trying to say that civilization is all as bad as Dan saw
it. Surely there are good points, too. People need to relax a little
more, I think, instead of getting more and more uptight. But it's still
not too bad, and with the pressure of people willing to stand up for
their beliefs, it is getting better.
I don't know, really, what else I really want to say here. I wrote
this story to get my feelings down. I hope you have found the story
worth-while reading. I didn't set out to write 'stroke material',
and I think I've succeeded with something beyond that.
If it's not being too presumptuous to say so, anyone is welcome to
spread this story anywhere they like, but I ask that they keep my name
on it, and do not edit it. These end notes may be removed, if you
like, but I would prefer that they stay, if possible. If it's published
in a newsletter or something (now THAT is being presumptuous!), I'd like
to receive a copy. (Email me for address). Nothing commercial without
contacting me first, please.
Thanks to Flipper, for encouragement which got me back into the right
frame of mind to finish this. Funny how much easier the story flows on
this laptop than on my desktop machine.
Well, that's about it. Thank you for reading the story, and thank you
for reading these notes. I welcome any comments or constructive criticism
you may have, though flames are only answered on days when I'm in a
good mood. :)
===Tursi 19 Jan 1995
=============================================================
Second draft notes:
Well... it's only 2:20am this time, as I complete a second revision.
Basically I cleaned up (I hope) a few sections to improve meaning or
get a more accurate concept of what I meant out.
First I have to thank Samsung for a very detailed review of the
original draft, and ideas and concepts for improvement throughout.
Thanks also to the others who read and commented on the story,
especially Shimrod, Flipper, Trigger, Aslan, Buteo, Canis, and all the
others my currently exhausted mind can't dredge up right now, especially
the anonymous person who discussed the story with me and also sent me
the Steel Dragon stories.
Also a thanks to everyone who took the time just to email me and tell
me that they liked it... the response was very, very nice. I wish I
could have read ASB when I posted it there to see if there were any
comments or questions, but unfortunately my server was snafu'd at the
time.
In reviewing my changes... I had originally meant to tone down the
sex scenes quite drastically. It wasn't until I actually read the story
over again that I realized that it truely wouldn't be the same without
them. To those who pointed this out to me already, my apologies, but
it's harder to realize this when you look at it from so close. <grin>
The story is not perfect yet... what story ever is? I don't know at
this point, however, if I will do further revision to it. I think it's
still quite good, and I have another project I want to start on soon.
Again... you are free to spread this story to whomever you like...
this version, old version, both.. it's fine with me. Please ensure
it's NOT used in anything of a commercial nature.
I don't really have much to add, save that the email address I used
in the first story is long out of date. The one I'll post below
is good until early September '95, and comments will always be welcome.
The pool remained still, and Dan continued for twenty minutes before
finally deciding that she wasn't coming back. He went to the spring,
and used the fresh water to wash off his face.
The next few days were quiet and lonely for Dan, and he realized just
how big a difference Susie had made in his life. Fishing was not only
more difficult, he just didn't feel like trying. It just didn't feel
right anymore, since Susie had actually made getting his daily meal
enjoyable. Dan spent a lot of his time moping around, wondering why he
had been so cruel to her, or splashing the water, calling for her. He
even tried sticking his face under the water and calling her name, but
it all seemed to be for nothing. Susie never answered. More than once
Dan awoke from a sound sleep, sure that he heard her, but he never saw
her, nor even a ripple in the pond to indicate that she had been there.
He felt she was gone forever.
An odd rising, then falling, wailing sound woke Dan up one night, and
he looked around in the dark for the source. His eyes, quickly adjusted
to the dim light of the night, quickly picked up a shape on the beach,
and he recognized it as a dolphin.
"Susie?" he whispered, getting up to run over to it. The wail sounded
again, coming right from the dolphin.
As he approached her, he saw a shaft, roughly a foot long with a ragged
end, sticking out of her back. Dan carefully ran his hand down her back,
around the shaft. He soon felt the roughness of the healed shark bite,
and knew it was indeed Susie.
"Oh, Susie! What happened to you? Just a moment, I've got to stoke the
fire. I need light!"
He splashed some water onto her back, and rubbed her lightly. Then he ran
to the dying fire and threw a few dry leaves on it. Blowing gently on
it, he quickly had a flame going, and added to it with more dry leaves,
and then some sticks. Quickly, he ran back to Susie, and examined the
shaft in the flickering light.
It had been a hand-thrown wooden-shafted spear, and the shaft had
broken off. The point penetrated into her skin, he wasn't sure how
far. The blood around the wound had already largely dried, and yet, a
small flow continued. Susie moved in discomfort as he felt the shaft.
"It's ok, Susie. I'm going to help you. I don't know how, but God knows,
I'm going to help you."
Susie's voice was weak, and yet, somehow urgent as she vocalized a
question in reply.
"brr-e-ee?" she asked.
Dan recognized the question that she'd asked before, and it seemed so
long ago. All his anguish and guilt came out, and he wrapped his arms
around her, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
"Yes, Susie, yes! I love you, and I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!
I'm so sorry! Please, you have to get better, I couldn't forgive myself
if you died!"
"ee-eooo," replied Susie, weakly. Her eyes closed, briefly, and then
opened again, and she tried to move, but she was obviously very weak.
"Don't try to move," Dan told her, standing up. He wiped his eyes dry,
and took another look at the spear.
"We have to get that out," he said. "I don't know how deep it is.." He
turned to look Susie in the eye. "It's going to hurt, and it's going to
bleed. Please know that I'm trying to help you. I don't want to hurt you,
but I have to."
Susie replied with a weakly rising whistle. Dan hoped that it was a sign
of understanding. He walked over to the fire and took a stick, about the
same size as the spear, which was burning well on one end. He walked back
to Susie. She didn't move.
"I'm going to try to use this to cauterize the wound, Susie. I'm hoping
it will stop the bleeding, okay?"
Susie only blinked. Her eyes were cloudy with pain, and Dan realized that
he had to act quickly.
"Okay." He went over to the side where the spear was, and wiggled it
slightly to try to determine it's depth and how securely it was lodged.
Susie whistled her rising-falling tone again, weakly.
"Susie, I'm sorry, I'm not trying to hurt you. Please, I'm doing
the best I can."
The spear wasn't as deep as he'd previously feared, just over an inch
into her flesh. He saw that the point was metal, and had short barbs
on it. He also saw that his movement had started the blood flowing more
freely. Dan ran back to his bed and grabbed the remains of his shirt,
which he had been using as a pillow. He soaked the shirt quickly in the
spring, and ran back to Susie.
"I'm trying, Susie, I really am. Please hang on."
Susie uttered a weak moan. Dan rubbed her back lightly.
"I'm going to try to remove the spear now."
He turned to her, and began to tilt the spear to free one of the barbs,
hoping not to make the wound much worse than it was. Susie flinched, and
Dan let go quickly, trying not to drive the spear in.
"Susie, please try to stay still!"
He continued working on the spear, trying not to cause Susie much pain.
Sweat began to bead on his forehead with his concentration, and his
heart pounded as he saw the increased flow of blood.
Finally, he had to spear ready to remove. He glanced at the stick, which
had burned out. It was too late to get another now, he'd have to make
do with a bandage.
"Here goes," he whispered. He pulled the spear free from Susie's side.
She flinched again, and he quickly slammed the shirt against the wound
and folded it into a pad.
The flow of blood was not as much as he'd expected, but he was
somewhat concerned by it anyway. He held the pad firmly against
the wound, hoping to slow or stop the bleeding quickly. He rubbed her
side and spoke quietly to her, and she remained quiet. He thought that
she seemed to be in less pain, though.
After a few minutes, he cautiously removed the shirt. The blood flow
had slowed to a small trickle. Dan washed the shirt in the spring, and
lightly rubbed the cool water all over Susie's body. He almost thought
she smiled at him as he rubbed down her face, and he felt that everything
would be all right. After he rubbed her down so she was sufficiently damp,
he returned his pressure to the wound.
He kept up this pattern for about an hour, until he felt the wound had
stopped bleeding enough to be safe. It was much smaller a wound than he
had thought it would be, but still, he realized that if he hadn't
removed the spear that Susie would likely have died from it.
"Why would anyone try to hurt someone as beautiful as you?" asked Dan.
Susie moved her head up towards him, looking for more personal attention,
and Dan obliged by rubbing her beak and melon. "Susie, I'm sorry I
chased you away, please don't leave me again. I really thought about
it, and I couldn't think of any sensible reason why we can't be
friends...and lovers. I really need you in my life."
Susie replied with a light whistle, and Dan was content. "Let's get you
back into the water, you can't stay on the beach with me."
Susie was soon enough back in the water, and resting in the shallows.
The water and the movement had opened the wound up a bit, but there was
very little new blood, and Dan felt that she would actually be all right
now. He was glad, and he hugged her.
Dan slept in the shallows, as near to Susie as he could, for a short
while. He woke up, and looked over at Susie, still resting. She was
sitting on the bottom, though there was enough water for her to move.
"Susie?" asked Dan. "Are you all right?"
Susie replied with a weak whistle. Dan realized that she would need a
few days to get her strength back, if she moved too much now she might
rip the wound wide open again. He'd have to get food for her.
He gathered up his spear. He considered using the spear that he had
pulled out of Susie, but he couldn't bring himself to touch it. The
thought of using it himself disgusted him. He made a mental note to
bury it somewhere later.
"Susie, stay here and rest. I have to get some food for both of us."
She looked up at him. He saw a depth in her eyes that he hadn't realized
before, and something that implied love and trust, and most of all,
understanding. He shook his head, unsure as to whether what he saw was
real or not. He gave Susie another hug, and a kiss on the melon.
"I'll be back soon," he promised. Then he waded into the water and swam
out of the cave.
He began his fishing with a renewed vigour and purpose that he hadn't
experienced in anything he'd ever really done before. Someone was
counting on him, and he couldn't let her down. He wouldn't let her down.
He reached the best fishing spot, off a point of the island. Susie had
brought him to this spot before, but now he would have to catch the fish
himself. He moved slowly, and smoothly, so as to not alert the fish that
were in the area.
Then he saw one, a big one. It was moving slowly nearby, almost
ignoring him. Dan stopped, watching it. He'd let fish like this escape
him in the past, but not this one. It was a start.
The fish paused, testing the waters. Dan tensed up, readying himself
for a lunge if the fish should take off.
The fish seemed to decide that all was well, and continued meandering
around, looking for food.
Dan struck, jabbing his spear smoothly and skillfully into the water.
He raised it up, hoping beyond hope.
He had it!
Things went well for Dan. He caught three fish in total, then decided
he had better get back and check on Susie.
She was roughly where he had left her, but she had turned around to
watch the mouth of the cave. He felt the sandstorm effect on his body
when he swam in, then heard a slightly weak whistle of greeting.
"Hi Susie," he called, "I have dinner!"
She whistled back, and started to wriggle out of the shallows to swim
towards him.
"Stay there," called Dan, stopping. "Don't hurt yourself, I'll bring
it to you."
She seemed to understand, and stopped moving. Dan swam up to her, and
laid out the fish on the beach. Susie was trying to turn around again,
and Dan picked up the biggest fish and waded into the water in front
of her, so she could see him.
"This one is for you, Susie. It's my turn to give you a present."
He offered it to her, and she opened her mouth. He carefully placed the
fish in her mouth, and she seemed to taste it for a moment before
closing her mouth and swallowing it.
"Good.. good. You're eating! Wait! I'll get you another one."
Dan waded back to the shore and grabbed the other two fish. He brought
them back in front of Susie, and offered her another. She hesitated,
then took it.
"You must really be hungry, Susie. How long since you ate? Do you want
the last one?"
Susie did not open her mouth for the third fish, turning her head away
from it.
"What's wrong, Susie? Are you full?"
Susie replied by lifting her head towards him, a movement Dan had come
to realize meant that she wanted him to pet her, and he happily obliged.
"Susie, I'm so glad you'll be all right."
The wound healed quickly over the next few days, and a week later only a
small scar showed where the spear had penetrated. Dan had also noticed a
small scar where he had struck her with the rock, and it served as a
constant reminder to him. He apologized to Susie for it countless times,
and she always responded by lifting her head, asking him to pet her. She
seemed to forgive him, but Dan was unsure if he'd ever fully forgive
himself.
Most times with her were very happy, however. They quickly got back into
their old routine - him trying to sleep, and her waking him after a few
hours. When awake, they spent most of their time together. Susie
occasionally went off on her own, but she never seemed to be gone for
more than an hour or so. Dan did wonder what she did when he was
sleeping, but he suspected that she tried to amuse herself, and woke him
up when she ran out of ideas.
One day, while they were in the shallows, Susie began trying to arouse
him again. Dan pulled back, and stopped rubbing her body. She looked at
him, curiously, and wriggled towards him again, and again Dan pulled back.
"Beeeeeeee?" asked Susie. She didn't seem to understand.
Dan thought hard, and was silent for several minutes. He wasn't sure if
he was ready for this again. Even though he'd convinced himself that it
was merely an act of love, somehow it still didn't seem right.
"Susie, I don't know if you can understand this, but I'm not ready yet."
She looked at him, and the question in her eyes dissolved. She moved her
flipper lightly up the side of his chest, and then drew it away from his
body. She then moved back so that she was laying nearly face-to-face with
him again, and looked him close up in the eye. From a slight distance
she could look straight at him, but close up she had to use only one eye
to look at him, and she did so now. Dan had realized that whether she
used one eye or two, she was still looking with the same intensity, still
trying to convey to him what she was feeling in her mind and in her heart.
Somehow, looking into her eye, he realized that she understood, and
accepted him. He thought that she was telling him that she would wait
as long as it took for him to be ready. Dan laughed and hugged her,
rolling her over in the shallow water.
She squealed with happy surprise, and started to rub herself against
him, but he drew away.
"No, Susie, I'm not ready."
She stopped, and uttered a lower falling tone whistle, and a few
clicks. She sounded very disappointed.
"I'm sorry, Susie. I have to be ready for this. I wasn't ready last time."
He got off her, and helped her roll upright again. Then he did not touch
her.
"Brr-eee?" asked Susie, quietly.
Dan turned to her, wishing he knew exactly how to tell her why he wasn't
ready, wishing he knew himself. The language Susie understood best was
the language of his touch, and his caresses. Body contact was important
to her, and he could understand how such a custom might lead to frequent
sexual acts. But he'd only really accepted the touching for now, he felt
that he couldn't go further yet... and accept it.
"Susie, yes, you know I love you." He ran his fingers lightly down
her back, away from the rough tissue of the shark bite, down to her
flukes, then back up to the top of her melon again. Then, on impulse, he
started to massage the muscles of her back and tail.
She seemed to love it, and she arched her back into his hands, as he
rubbed and massaged her. Her skin was soft, and her muscles were firm
as he stretched and squeezed them. Susie uttered a few warbling tones
of pleasure, and Dan smiled. He continued massaging her, slowly working
his way down towards her flukes, and across her entire body. When he
reached her flukes, he reached underneath and began to massage her
underside. She rolled over a bit to make it easier for him.
Dan hesitated a moment when she rolled over, then continued massaging,
above her belly. He looked up at her face, and thought for a moment
there was a playful gleam in her eye, one that said "Next time I'll
get you!"
Dan chuckled. "Maybe next time you will," he replied.
The next few weeks were pretty routine. Susie didn't try to push herself
on him anymore, she just lay next to him in the shallows and cuddled with
him, like she usually did. Dan appreciated that she was so patient, and
vowed silently to himself that he would make her happy one day soon.
Dan gradually felt his acceptance of Susie, and his love for her,
growing stronger and more certain. Her gentle and unconditional
acceptance of him fed the flames of his love. Not once was she ever
angry with him, and she was never away from him for more than a few
hours. At the same time Dan began to subconsciously recognize more and
more of Susie's gestures and movements, and he could almost always tell
what was on her mind, or what she wanted to tell him. He still spoke to
her, but he knew that she understood by his tone, his gestures, and his
touch, far more than by the words he spoke. In much the same way, this
was how he understood her.
One night, Dan had a dream. He'd been on the island with Susie for five
or six months, and it caught him off-guard, because he dreamt of Kathy.
In the dream she was married to him, and they were cuddling on the couch
in his living room. They began kissing heavily, and he removed her top.
She was not wearing a bra, and her large breasts fell out, and he kissed
and massaged them. He removed her pants, and kissed her while she removed
his shirt and pants. Then he drew close to her, and wrapped his arms
around her, holding her tight against his body as he kissed her. He
lightly ran his hand down her back, and suddenly felt the rough tissue
of Susie's healed shark bite. It didn't bother him in the dream, that
Kathy had suddenly become Susie, and he continued kissing and rubbing her
as he had been.
Suddenly they were on the beach, and he was making love to her. Susie
was uttering her half-squeal and half-moan of pleasure, and Dan could
almost feel her skin against his.
He felt that he'd finally crossed the boundary in his mind that had held
him back for so long. Finally he felt he could accept her love in all
it's forms... that it didn't matter if Susie was human or dolphin,
because they loved each other.
He woke up, aroused and sweating. He knew now that he was ready to be a
complete partner with Susie. But he would wait until later to show her,
he didn't want lust to be his drive as much as his love. He closed his
eyes again, ignoring the throbbing in his loins, and was soon asleep again.
Naturally, he didn't sleep much longer before Susie's impatient chatter
woke him up. He rubbed his eyes and sat up wearily.
"I don't believe it, Susie. You let me sleep in today by what, ten,
fifteen minutes?"
"REEEE-oo!" replied Susie happily. Dan chuckled and went into the water.
She swam up to him, and he hugged her tightly against his body. He gave
her a quick kiss on the end of her beak. Susie backed off, and keeping
her head above the water, spun around a few times, then fell into the
water in a mock swoon. Instantly she was poking her head up again,
looking at him for approval.
"Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh!" she laughed.
Dan chuckled, too. "Where did you learn that one?" he asked. Susie
merely swam back up to him, and wrapped her flippers around his body
in another embrace. Dan hugged her back.
"So, Susie," he began. "You ready for breakfast now?"
Later that night, Dan and Susie lay cuddling in the shallows again.
Dan never tired of her soft, smooth skin against his, and it seemed that
she never tired of his company, either. Dan remembered his dream, and
the memory aroused him slightly. He began massaging Susie's body again.
Susie sighed, happily, and relaxed, and Dan looked up at her face. She
looked content and happy, and Dan wondered how best to communicate his
intent.
Slowly, he worked his hands down to her underside, and began massaging
her stomach area. Susie rolled onto her side a bit to give him better
access, and as he rubbed he looked down at her underbelly. He watched
the movements as she waved her tail slowly in the warm water, and he
felt himself becoming more aroused.
He began to work his hands down her belly, massaging firmly along the
way. Susie closed her eyes and opened her mouth in a silent sigh as
Dan rubbed downwards. The white skin of her underbelly took on a bright
pinkish color, which spread slowly up her belly.
He wrapped his arms around her body, feeling the love flow between them
as their souls themselves merged into one being. Susie turned a bit,
and wrapped her flippers around him as best she could. She then moved
her tail up between his legs, and wrapped her flukes around one of
his feet.
As they loved, Dan felt enveloped in love and warmth, and he let himself
go. When done, they rested together. Susie made her way over to him,
before he had time to sit up and face her, and he stroked her face in
his hands, gazing deeply into her eyes.
"I love you, Susie. I'm going to stay with you forever."
For once, Susie was quiet, apparently content to be held and pet.
Days passed, and Dan and Susie were closer than they had ever been. Dan
had found perfect happiness and all the love he had ever wanted with
Susie, and he felt that she loved him just as much as he loved her. They
spent all their time together, playing games, sharing quiet moments, and
making love. Making love didn't bother Dan anymore, though Susie could
be a demanding partner on occasion. But Dan didn't mind, he loved her
so much he was willing to show her any way he could.
Occasionally Susie would bring him things she had found, too. She seemed
to recognize that they had come from the human world. Over time, Dan
collected a large number of items, including a portable radio (not
working, Dan didn't know if it was just the battery or if the water
had destroyed it), several sets of swim fins, a snorkle, three masks,
two watches, a couple more lighters, a jacknife, and even a few pieces
of jewelery. He often used the fins while playing with Susie, but was
uncomfortable with the snorkle and found the masks awkward. The knife
proved very useful for cleaning fish and cutting spears.
Over time, Dan also got better at making things out of the plants that
populated the island, and spent many evenings building a net out of
twisted vines, to help him catch fish more easily. He also diverted the
flow of the fresh water, and dug a small pit high on the beach to hold
the fresh water before it ran into the sea. Life was good. Simple, fun,
and full of love.
One day he and Susie had abandonded their fishing to play tag. Dan found
that Susie was far more maneuverable and quick in the water than he was,
and as such, he was almost always 'it'. But she stayed in a fairly small
area to make it easier for him. It no longer amazed him how quickly she
could pick up on new games. He was used to it, and expected it.
Suddenly, she stopped, and faced away from the beach.
"Susie, what is it?" ased Dan. She swam out a few feet, where the
water dropped deeper, and Dan saw her drop her tail and point her
flukes out in the direction she was facing. She was making the creaking
noise, that Dan knew meant she was examining something.
He looked, but saw nothing above or below the surface. He swam out to her.
Susie turned quickly towards him, and uttered a single high-pitched
whistle. She began pushing him, butting lightly against his chest.
"What is it?" he asked again, urgently. Susie stopped, suddenly, and
chattered at him, even more quickly than usual. Dan saw a look of fear
in her eyes, and a plead that he hurry.
Slightly shaken, Dan turned for the beach and began to swim. Susie came
up behind him and started pushing on his rear. It was only a short distance
to the shore, and with Susie's help he was on it in seconds.
"Susie? ..." Dan stopped when he stood up and looked at the water.
Susie turned too. In the distance Dan saw three triangular dorsal fins
slashing through the surface of the water, heading roughly towards them.
"Sharks!" cried Dan in recognition. Panicked, he ran back to Susie
and leapt on her.
"Come on," he cried, tugging at her. "We have to get you out of the
water!"
Susie struggled against him, whistling and chattering. She was too
heavy for Dan to lift, and he grabbed her flukes and tried dragging
her. All he could think was to get her onto the beach where she would
be safe.
The sharks had apparently detected the struggle, and had turned slightly
to be bearing directly towards them. They were fairly close when Susie
suddenly took action. She flicked her tail, causing Dan to lose his
grip and fall backwards into the water. With a quick turn, she charged
hard at Dan, and struck him. He was knocked back several feet, and
landed at the edge of the water. The wind knocked out of him, he lay
there trying desperately to catch his breath, as he watched.
Susie then tried to flee into the ocean, but the sharks were already
upon her, and were circling. Susie turned this way and that, but was
unable to find an opening. Every so often the sharks darted in towards
her, and she snapped at them, driving them back.
Suddenly she charged at one, and struck it in the gills with her beak.
Blood flowed, and the shark swam wobbily off a bit. Susie charged and
struck again, and the shark began to sink, leaving two. The two
remaining sharks quickened their motions, and, excited by the blood,
grew more daring in their attacks.
Susie's movements also became quicker, and more agitated, as the sharks
still blocked her every escape attempt. She charged again, and a
second shark sank, oozing blood from it's broken gills.
The last shark took advantage of Susie's turning away from him, and
attacked as Susie backed off from her charge. It bit down solidly
on her flukes, and Susie screamed a loud, rising whistle. The shark
shook violently, tearing the fins, but released her, finding no meat
there.
She tried to manuever for another charge, but the pain and the physical
damage to her tail was making it difficult. Dan saw that he had to
help. Panting, still trying to get his breath back, he grabbed his
fishing spear off the beach, where he had tossed it to play, and leapt
into the water.
The shark, sensing a victory, charged again, and latched onto Susie's
lower flank with it's huge jaws. Susie screamed again, with a loud rising
then falling whistle of pain. The shark held on tightly as Susie shook
hard, trying to free herself from it's grip.
Dan reached them quickly, and threw his entire body into driving the
spear into the shark's body. He struck, and the shark released it's
hold, and began thrashing violently. It's teeth slashed Dan's chest and
arms, and he began to bleed, but he held on. Soon the shark's thrashing
slowed, then ceased. Dan sighed, panting, and looked around. The water
was cloudy with blood, and he couldn't see Susie.
"Susie?" he called, splashing the water. She surfaced, weakly, near
him, then almost immediately began to sink again. Dan ran over and
grabbed her, trying to hold her up. She whistled her pain cry again,
and Dan looked at her side. A large chunk of her flesh had been torn
off, and she was bleeding badly. Through the water it was hard to tell,
but Dan feared it was even worse than first glance.
"Susie! Susie!" he cried, hugging her. "I'm so sorry! This is my
fault.. I should have left the water when you told me to! I should
have trusted you!"
Susie whistled weakly. Dan moved back, and tried to get a better
position to hold her at the surface.
"Come on," he said. "We have to get back to the cave. We'll be safe there."
They finally got back into the cave. Dan found all the way that he had
to help Susie stay near the surface, and she seemed to be in a great
deal of pain. He felt extremely guilty, feeling that it was his fault
she was hurt. He was also very afraid that she was going to die.
He led her over to the shallow water, and then faced her. Her eyes were
cloudy with pain, and yet, he saw a spark of love in them, too. He
smiled for a moment, then he ran his eyes down her body and saw the blood.
"Rest for a moment, Susie. I have to block the entrance, so that more
sharks can't get in here."
He took the net he had made, and strung it as best he could across the
mouth of the cave, catching it on rocks on either side. When he was
satisfied that it would stay, he swam quickly back to Susie, laying
half in and half out of the water. She was laying very still.
"Susie!" he yelled, frightened.
She moved slightly, and opened her eyes to look at him. He saw pain, and
a plead for help. The water around her was already red with her blood,
and Dan felt very sick with fear. The wound was very bad, and quite large,
and Susie was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.
Dan looked wildly around the beach, and spied the remains of his shirt,
still slightly stained from the spear, despite his efforts to clean it.
He ran for it, and washed it off in the spring. He then grabbed a few
extra vines, and ran back to Susie.
She whistled weakly in pain as he spread the shirt over her wound, and
began tying it on tightly with the vines.
"Susie, Susie," he kept repeating. "Please be all right. PLEASE!
I need you! I'm sorry!"
She moaned slightly, and opened her eyes. She raised her head, giving
him the 'I need attention' pose, only much more slowly and weakly than
usual.
"I have to finish tying this, Susie! Please!"
"err--oo," she replied, very quietly. Again she raised her head, pleading
with him with her eyes.
Dan shook his head, fighting the tears and the anger.
"No," he cried, "no! Susie, no! You're going to be all right!"
She looked at him again, and her eyes were very sad. The cloudiness of
her pain was in the background, and Dan could see right into her soul.
"Brr-eee," she sounded, weakly. 'You love me,' read Dan. A statement,
this time, and not a question.
"Err...err-ooo," she finished. 'I love you.'
In his heart, Dan knew she was dying. He could see that she knew as
well. She was telling him goodbye. His pain surfaced with surprising
force, and he wrapped his arms around her, laying over her. Tears poured
from his eyes, and he called her name over and over.
"Susie, no!" he sobbed. "Please don't leave me! Susie!"
Susie watched him, sadness in her eyes. He felt closer to her than he
ever had, and he heard her thoughts as if they were his own.
'I'm sorry, my time is done. Thank you for being here. Thank you for
being my mate. I loved you, always remember that. I will always be
with you, in your heart.'
Susie closed her eyes one last time. She shuddered slightly, and then
exhaled one final sigh. Her flukes stopped moving, and she was gone.
Dan's sobbing began again, with new force, and he lay with her for a
long time, holding her, and sobbing at his loss.
Dan buried Susie on the opposite beach from the attack, far from the
sharks. In another way it felt like the best place, because Dan and Susie
had spent evenings here, watching the sun set. Dan hadn't been sure, at
the time, if Susie appreciated the sunsets the way he had. Now,
however, he was sure that she had, if only because it was important to
him.
It took him a long time, and he cried a lot. But he was eventually
finished. No more would he hear her happy chirp, nor feel the soft
warmth of her caress. He looked up into the sky, tears streaming down
his face, and prayed that she was in a good place.
He looked a long time for a suitable marker, and finally found a large,
flat rock. He struggled to drag it over to the grave, but finally got
it there. Using the knife, he chipped an inscription.
"Susie - My love, I will remember."
He stood by the grave, head down, and cried some more.
He spent the next few days sitting on the top of the cliff, over his
cave, staring out at the sea. Several times, well off in the distance,
he noticed boats speeding around. But he did not care.
Once, he saw a pod of dolphins swimming past the island, a mile or
two out. He watched them, but they did not come towards the island,
and he was saddened.
During this time, Dan did not eat, and he drank very little. His health
was getting poor, but he did not notice, or care to notice. All he cared
was that Susie was gone.
One day he heard an odd chopping noise above the island, and he looked up,
weakly. He watched with amazement as a helicopter approached the island,
and stopped over the beach, lowering itself behind the trees so that
Dan could not see what was happening.
He realized with a start that it was the beach where he had buried
Susie, and he got up, and began a weak, stumbling run towards it, to
see what was happening.
He reached the beach to see the helicopter floating on the quiet sea,
on pontoons, and two men standing in the sand. One was just standing
up in front of the marker when the other noticed Dan, and pointed at
him. They were both wearing t-shirts and new blue-jeans, and the first
one was wearing a cap. The second wore no hat, but had neatly
trimmed dark hair.
The man with the cap looked over, and saw Dan as he stepped out onto
the beach. He was long unshaven, and wearing only his badly worn and
faded jeans. He was also rather thin and pale from lack of eating
over the last few days.
"Good lord!" called the man. He ran up to Dan. "Are you alright?"
Dan blinked in confusion. "Wh.. what are you doing here?" he asked.
His voice was dry from lack of food and water.
"We were flying around, out by the mainland there," the man pointed
out over the water, "and my partner was looking around with his
binoculars." The man with the dark hair held up a pair of binoculars.
"He saw a couple of flashes of light from here, and we came to check it
out."
He handed a knife to Dan. It was the one he had used to carve the grave
marker. "Found this in the sand. Lucky for you we came, I guess!"
He grew serious for a moment. "But, I'm... sorry about your wife."
"My wife?" asked Dan, absently taking the knife.
"'Susie'," replied the man, pointing at the marker.
"Susie," repeated Dan slowly, turning his head downward and squeezing
his eyes to shut off the tears that were starting to flow already.
"Poor guy," muttered the man with the dark hair. "Least we can do is
take him back to the mainland."
"Yup," replied the man in the cap. "Hey, buddy," he said to Dan. "Come
on, it'll be all right. Get in the helicopter, and we'll take you home."
Dan obediantly waded into the water, and the man with the dark hair
helped him into the helicopter, seating him in the back. The other two
men climbed into the front seats, and closed the door.
They began to warm up the engine, and the machine began to make it's
chopping sounds. The man with the cap turned back.
"What's your name, buddy?" he asked.
Dan paused, thinking slowly, weakly. His thoughts were still muddled
with the pain of his loss.
"My.. name," he replied. It came to him, slowly. "Dan," he stated.
The helicopter lifted off the water, and began to fly across it.
"Well, Dan," said the man with the cap, "my name is Doug, and that
there is Steve."
"How long were you on that island?" asked Steve.
"I.. don't know," replied Dan.
"Well, don't you worry," Doug told him. "We're going to have you back in
civilization in no time!"
Civilization. The word struck a chord in Dan's mind. It echoed in his
head, looking for a place to seat itself, where it's meaning would
finally be recognized.
Finally, it found a place. Civilization. War. Suffering. Violence.
Crime. Civilization. Guilt. Blame. Threats. Punishment. Civilization.
Hatred. Greed. Loneliness.
Dan looked up, suddenly. "NO!" he yelled. Doug and Steve looked back at
him, startled, as he jumped up and grabbed the door handle. Dan could
not go back to a life without love. He would not go back to a world more
interested in making money than having love. He would take his chances in
the ocean, where, when love happens, it's not crushed in pursuit of the
perfect ideal or greatest profit. He opened the door, and jumped.
=============================================================
Notes:
I'm sitting here, at 6:54am, having just finished (but not proofread)
this story. I feel I must add a few notes about it.
This is a powerful story for me. In the course of writing it, I've
laughed, and I've been close to tears. My own reactions somewhat
surprised me, but I hope I've conveyed some of the same feelings to you.
I took liberties with Susie, of course. Perhaps I made her a little
more human than she might otherwise have been. But this is easier to
write than to try to describe in text the invisible, indescribable
bond that love actually creates, and the unspoken understanding it
can generate.
However it ended, this was not meant as a negative story, but a
celebration of the life of one man, and his lover. Here, it was
a dolphin. It could have been a horse, a woman, or a Martian, but
the feelings expressed are the same. Only the means of expressing
them differ.
I'm also not trying to say that civilization is all as bad as Dan saw
it. Surely there are good points, too. People need to relax a little
more, I think, instead of getting more and more uptight. But it's still
not too bad, and with the pressure of people willing to stand up for
their beliefs, it is getting better.
I don't know, really, what else I really want to say here. I wrote
this story to get my feelings down. I hope you have found the story
worth-while reading. I didn't set out to write 'stroke material',
and I think I've succeeded with something beyond that.
If it's not being too presumptuous to say so, anyone is welcome to
spread this story anywhere they like, but I ask that they keep my name
on it, and do not edit it. These end notes may be removed, if you
like, but I would prefer that they stay, if possible. If it's published
in a newsletter or something (now THAT is being presumptuous!), I'd like
to receive a copy. (Email me for address). Nothing commercial without
contacting me first, please.
Thanks to Flipper, for encouragement which got me back into the right
frame of mind to finish this. Funny how much easier the story flows on
this laptop than on my desktop machine.
Well, that's about it. Thank you for reading the story, and thank you
for reading these notes. I welcome any comments or constructive criticism
you may have, though flames are only answered on days when I'm in a
good mood. :)
===Tursi 19 Jan 1995
=============================================================
Second draft notes:
Well... it's only 2:20am this time, as I complete a second revision.
Basically I cleaned up (I hope) a few sections to improve meaning or
get a more accurate concept of what I meant out.
First I have to thank Samsung for a very detailed review of the
original draft, and ideas and concepts for improvement throughout.
Thanks also to the others who read and commented on the story,
especially Shimrod, Flipper, Trigger, Aslan, Buteo, Canis, and all the
others my currently exhausted mind can't dredge up right now, especially
the anonymous person who discussed the story with me and also sent me
the Steel Dragon stories.
Also a thanks to everyone who took the time just to email me and tell
me that they liked it... the response was very, very nice. I wish I
could have read ASB when I posted it there to see if there were any
comments or questions, but unfortunately my server was snafu'd at the
time.
In reviewing my changes... I had originally meant to tone down the
sex scenes quite drastically. It wasn't until I actually read the story
over again that I realized that it truely wouldn't be the same without
them. To those who pointed this out to me already, my apologies, but
it's harder to realize this when you look at it from so close. <grin>
The story is not perfect yet... what story ever is? I don't know at
this point, however, if I will do further revision to it. I think it's
still quite good, and I have another project I want to start on soon.
Again... you are free to spread this story to whomever you like...
this version, old version, both.. it's fine with me. Please ensure
it's NOT used in anything of a commercial nature.
I don't really have much to add, save that the email address I used
in the first story is long out of date. The one I'll post below
is good until early September '95, and comments will always be welcome.
