See the wonders of nature
“I saw it! I saw it! That was definitely a tail!” Everyone ran over to the side of the small boat, making it rock alarmingly. Annie braced herself against the side.
Dr. Max was wearing a blue North Face jacket speckled with rain. Drops of it were caught in his beanie hat and the beard he was letting himself grow away from the hospital. It was already impressive; he didn’t have a five-o’clock shadow so much as a 10:00 a.m. one. “Did you see it?”
She shook her head. “Just trying not to fall in.”
“Here.” He held out his binoculars, which were heavy and cold.
She peered in but the sea was just a gray blur. “I can’t see anything.”
“Let me show you.” He leaned over her, and she held her breath. His voice was in her ear. “There. Over to the left. See the wee tail flick up? That’s a pilot whale.”
Annie looked. She couldn’t see it. Nothing but gray, gray, gray, then… “I saw something!” So quick you’d miss it, like a flicker of desire coming and going in your stomach. “And there’s…oh, my God!” As she watched, three dolphins flipped out of the water and back in again, kicking up water. It was so fast.
He laughed at her astonished face. “They play with the whales, naughty wee buggers.”
“Why do they do that, jump out like that?”
He took the binoculars back, looping them around his strong wrists. “Just for fun. For happiness, you might say.”
“Jumping for joy,” she said, eyes fixed on the water.
“Aye. Never understood why people are always so keen on swimming with them, though. Must be horrible for the poor beasties. They’re intelligent creatures.”
Annie nodded so vigorously her hat almost fell off. “I couldn’t agree more.”
“Oh, God. Why do you all look so happy? Oh, God. This is horrendous.” George stumbled past, ashen-faced, and puked loudly over the side. His orange life jacket clashed horribly with his gray face.
“These Londoners,” Dr. Max said, shaking his head. “No sea legs.”
“I’m fine,” Annie pointed out, conveniently forgetting that it had taken her half an hour to go near the side of the boat.
“Aye, well, maybe you’re special.” He said it offhandedly, and then moved over to Polly, who was sitting on a deck chair, all wrapped up in coats and blankets. “Don’t let yourself get cold now, hear? It could be catastrophic.”
God, Annie liked the way he said it. Catttasstroooophic. She looked out at the sea, spotting the dolphins again and the larger slow flick of the whale’s tail. There was no way to tell from the gray choppy surface anything was there, but she knew that beneath them the sea teemed with life, and the dolphins were so happy about it they couldn’t stay put in the water a second longer.