Sandy comes to my room. She touches the bandages on my hands. She is all sadness, in her eyes, in her walk.

Why do you keep me in a locked room?

Sandy says, Your room has been locked for a long time. Since the night you went swimming in the Charles River, Mila.

I did not know this. I did not know.

I tell her, I will not go in the river again. I promise. Please unlock the door.

Sandy says, We can’t.

I ask, Why? Why do you have to lock me in?

Sandy says, When the government learned about your swim in the Charles, they were very angry with Doctor Beck. They wanted to know how she could let you get out. The government told Doctor Beck to keep you locked in or you would be given to someone else.

I ask, Why does the government talk this way about me?

Sandy says, They think they own you, Mila.

Sandy says, Remember when we walked along the Charles and you heard music and wanted to go in the house and we talked about territory and property? Mila, you are government property.

No, I am Mila.

Sandy says, The government doesn’t think of you as Mila. It thinks of you as an investment. It is paying your way, Mila. It wants to be sure no harm comes to you, no one hurts you. That you are protected.

Why is the government afraid harm will come to me? Does one human hurt the other?

Sandy says, When people don’t understand a thing, it frightens them. There are some people so interested in you, they would take you away from us. There are other people who are just plain frightened of you. People who don’t know you. The man who cleans the floor, Mr. Aradondo, and people outside, in the big world. They do not understand a girl who lived with dolphins. You are different, Mila. You look different, you sound different. But it isn’t just the way you talk or walk. It isn’t just the way you look. Your thinking is different. Mila, you think like a dolphin.

Sandy says, Humans see things only the human way. We look at the dolphin and we think it does not look human, it does not talk human, it does not act human. It must not be as good as human. Humans think they are the best, that they know the only right way.

I am confused. I know only this thing. I must have the door unlocked.

Sandy says, Someday the door will be unlocked. When you know the language, when you know the rules, the door will be unlocked.

When I know the language, when I know the rules, when they unlock the door, I can run back to the warm sea. I can leave my human clothes on the beach. I can leave my human thought on the beach. I will go home.