A Dolphin Wish

by Natalie Grant

  As they passed the restroom, Mia asked, “May I use the restroom?”

  “Sure,” Zarin said. “When you’re done, come knock on that door up ahead. It will be locked, but we’ll be right outside.”

  “Come right out when you’re done,” Mom said, giving Mia a no-nonsense look.

  Mia wouldn’t sneak out onto the dolphin deck by herself, but she knew Mom was warning her not to anyway. Mia felt the unfairness of this almost-accusation pile on top of her disappointment. She wasn’t the one who sneaked places she wasn’t supposed to go.

  Mia stomped her way into the bathroom. She took her time, letting the frustration go inch by inch. She’d figure things out with Maddie a different way. And maybe, some other day, she could swim with dolphins. She’d looked one in the eye, and that was something. By the time she dried her hands, she felt a little more calm and ready to face her family.

  NINE

  When she opened the bathroom door, she heard voices raised in frustration. She held back, closing the door until it almost latched. She didn’t want to walk straight into an argument that wasn’t any of her business.

  “Get over here,” a male voice said.

  “What’s your problem?”

  “Look.”

  “Yeah, the sign-out sheet, I know. So what?”

  “You didn’t log our time in.”

  “Well, neither did you.”

  Mia peeked out to see what the long silence was all about. A boy and girl—teens, actually—stood just outside the dolphin deck door. Mia ducked back behind the bathroom door when the boy seemed about to turn around. Teens were working here with the dolphins? Mia blinked at her fingers, pressed against the halfway-open door. If teens worked here, that meant maybe Mia could too, in a couple years. If she lived in San Diego. But those were just details. She, Mia, could be working with real, live dolphins.

  “You know how serious they are about the checklists right now,” the boy said.

  “Why are you lecturing me?” the girl snapped. “It’s not like I’m the one letting the animals out of their habitats. Do you really think logging our ins and outs will make any difference anyway?”

  “You never know,” the boy said.

  “Sometimes you’re the most frustrating person . . .”

  “Don’t walk away from me,” the boy said. “We’re not finished.”

  “I’m finished. Anyway, I have work to do,” the girl said.

  Their voices faded as the door to the dolphin deck closed behind them. Mia let out the breath she’d been holding. After Mom’s warning, she definitely didn’t want anyone to catch her skulking around the hallway. She wanted to see the checklist they’d been arguing over too.

  Someone was letting the animals out of their habitats? Her heart began to beat faster, and faster still. A mystery of her own, and an opportunity to help the dolphins. What could be more perfect than that? The checklist hung on a peg just outside the door. On the checklist, boxes labeled in and out had initials and times written on them.

  “Mia?” Miss Julia’s voice called.

  “Coming,” she called, hurrying toward the seal door. Caught red-handed. She’d definitely taken too long.

  “Did you get lost?” Miss Julia asked. “We were getting worried.”

  “Sorry,” Mia said, not wanting to explain about the argument and the mystery, at least not yet. First of all, she didn’t want to get in trouble. Also, somehow she’d stumbled into a real-live mystery of her own. Did she have to share it? She tucked this question away. She’d think it over and decide. Soon enough, she’d know the right thing to do.

  Three seals lounged on rocks in the public seal area. They barked at one another and then splashed into the water to cool off before climbing back up onto the rocks. Mia had to admit, their whiskered faces were cute, but they were nothing like the dolphins. Once they’d watched the seals for about fifteen minutes, Zarin led them back down the hallways, past the sea pens, and out into the park.

  “Where are you off to now?” Zarin asked.

  “What do you suggest?” Dad asked. “The girls weren’t fans of Scalawag’s Splash, but we had a lot of fun on Pete’s Paddle Boats.”

  “Scalawag’s Splash is definitely the darkest, scariest ride in the park,” Zarin said. “You started with that?”

  “Probably not the best choice,” Mom said. “The girls didn’t enjoy getting soaked, either.”

  “It’s starting to get hot, though,” Dad pointed out.

  “If you don’t want to get wet, but you want to cool down, maybe try Iceberg Float,” Zarin said. “That’s over in the Antarctic Ocean area, so it’s all the way on the other side of the park, but worth the walk. The ride is nice and cool, and there’s also a not-to-be-missed surprise.”

  “Let’s go, let’s go!” Lulu said, clapping her hands.

  Mom laughed and reached for Zarin’s hand. “Thank you so much for introducing us to the dolphins, and the seals too. You made the girls’ day.”

  “Yes, thank you!” Mia and her sisters chimed in.

  “It was my pleasure,” Zarin said.

  As they crossed Buccaneer’s Island, Dad pointed out that it was lunchtime. There were many small restaurants, so everyone got to choose what they wanted. After browsing, the girls decided it was too hot for anything but smoothies. Mia chose orange-raspberry, Maddie chose pineapple-strawberry, and Lulu chose blueberry. They also shared a giant pretzel with melted cheese. Mom, Miss Julia, and Dad had fish tacos. Once everyone had eaten, they headed over the bridge into the Antarctic Ocean area.

  Captain Australis stamped their passports and pointed them on their way. “Smooth sailing to you!”

  Iceberg Float was at the far corner of the park, and most of the crowd hadn’t found their way there yet. The tunnels leading into the ride were white and cool, making Mia think of the inside of an igloo. Soon, they reached the loading area. Each iceberg held up to six people, so everyone piled in and buckled their seat-belts. Then, they floated into the cool darkness. The air filled with the sounds of sea winds and waves. Blue and green light swallowed the darkness as they floated into a large cavern. What followed was a series of caves, each of which looked to be made of ice.

  Along the way, staged scenes featured animals, scientific outposts, and other sights one might find near the South Pole. Mia hadn’t thought much about what might be at the South Pole, but as they floated she caught her breath over and over. There was an otherworldliness to the dazzling coldness, to the ice and the creatures and the landscape. Ahead, she heard oohs and aahs, but before she could wonder too much about them, they floated into a new cavern, this one dome-shaped.

  “Look up!” Lulu shouted, unnecessarily, since everyone was already looking.

  Across the ceiling, blue, green, purple, red, and yellow lights danced.

  “What is that supposed to be?” Maddie asked.

  “The southern lights,” Miss Julia answered.

  “Like the northern lights?” Mia asked.

  “Yes, they show up at the South Pole too,” Miss Julia said. “The phenomena is almost identical to what happens at the North Pole. It’s caused by solar winds colliding with gases in the upper atmosphere.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Maddie whispered.

  Sure, it was just a light show, probably not anything like the real southern lights, but after having floated through the dazzling coldness, Mia felt the line between real and imaginary blurring. It was almost as though her family had floated out of the park and into the wild southern sea, to witness a miracle staged just for them. She reached for Maddie’s hand and held tight. For a second, it felt like the door between the sisters swung wide open again. No one spoke as the lights continued to undulate in the sky. Their iceberg floated across the wide expanse of the room an
d back into the darkness.

  TEN

  Coming back into the noise and brightness of the park was jarring. Mia blinked as her eyes adjusted. The heaviness of the mystery she hadn’t shared weighed down on her. She should tell her sisters, but now they’d be mad that she’d waited so long to spill the secret. No one seemed in a hurry to do anything next, so they wandered down the sidewalk into the middle of the Antarctic square.

  “Look!” Lulu said, pointing to a gathering crowd. Mia rose onto her toes, trying to see over heads.

  “Are they supposed to be doing that?” Maddie asked.

  “Is who supposed to be doing what?” Mia asked.

  Then, as a tall man leaned over to speak to his son, Mia saw it too. Rather, she saw them.

  Penguins, black and white, with orange and yellow markings on their heads, beaks, and necks too. They paraded across the bridge toward Buccaneer’s Island, as though they planned to pick up crab sandwiches for lunch. One by one, the penguins hopped up from the bridge itself onto the railing. On they waddled, waving their wings and bobbing their heads.

  The crowd laughed and snapped pictures, but Mia was pretty sure Maddie was right to question if they were really supposed to be loose. Surely, the penguins weren’t supposed to be out of their habitat all alone, crossing the bridge onto Buccaneer’s Island. What if someone touched them and got oil on their feathers that wasn’t supposed to be there? What if someone fed them something they weren’t supposed to eat? Worse still, what if somehow the penguins got loose and then got lost? Zarin had said all the animals were here because they couldn’t live on their own in the wild. Mia assumed this meant the penguins too. Anyway, what would happen to a penguin left on its own on a blazing hot San Diego beach?

  “I’m sure they’re not supposed to . . .” Mia’s voice trailed off as a park truck pulled up.

  Four staff members, all dressed in the same white-jacketed uniform that Zarin wore, jumped out with buckets of fish in hand. Three of them were women, and one was a gray-haired man. They moved quickly, the youngest of the women and the man clearing a path through the crowd. The others tossed a fish or two to the penguins. The fish immediately captured the penguins’ attention. They about-faced, hopped off the railing, and waddled along behind the biologists. To see them now, you’d guess they went on parade every day.

  “Where are you off to?” a man in the crowd called.

  “Penguins will be back in the Chill Zone shortly,” said one of the biologists. “You’re welcome to follow us there.”

  As the two young biologists passed by, Mia saw the other heft her bucket and mutter, “Third time this week.”

  The first biologist shot her colleague a look and then forced a bright smile at the crowd. “See you soon!”

  “Maybe they planned to do that?” Maddie asked, after the penguins had all passed by.

  The man and the woman who’d been crowd-wrangling climbed into their truck and headed for the penguin exhibit.

  “Seems unlikely,” Miss Julia said. “Penguins on parade all by themselves? The biologists didn’t act like it was a planned thing, anyway.”

  Before she thought about what she was saying, Mia blurted, “Someone’s letting animals out of their habitats, and no one knows who.”

  “What?” Maddie asked.

  “No one knows who? A mystery!” Lulu launched into the Glimmer Girls theme song.

  Dad caught her arm before she danced straight into a passing family. “Whoa there, kiddo. I’m not sure the Glimmer family needs to be solving any more mysteries.”

  “We certainly don’t need any Glimmer girls sneaking off anywhere.” Miss Julia eyed each of the sisters in turn, her eyes stopping when they landed on Mia.

  “I didn’t sneak off!” As soon as Mia said this, she realized she had snuck off, a little. She’d gone to look at the check-in list without telling anyone. But that wasn’t anything like sneaking halfway across London.

  Miss Julia raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.

  “What do you say we find another ride?” Mom suggested. “I’d like to try out Whitewater Canyon.”

  “I want to see the penguins,” Lulu said. “I hardly got to see them out here. Plus, there might be clues near their exhibit—you know, about whoever let them out.”

  “We don’t know—” Dad began.

  “Come on!” Lulu grabbed Mia’s arm and pulled her in the direction the penguins had gone.

  “Why do you think someone would be letting the animals out of their habitats?” Maddie asked Mia, hurrying to catch up.

  “Maybe it’s just to be funny,” Lulu said, giving a twirl. “Ooh, or maybe someone is trying to steal the animals to sell them for lots and lots of money. Or they’re keeping them as pets . . . Maybe someone wants to swim with the dolphins even more than you do, Mia.”

  Maddie’s face crinkled with worry. “Not dolphins. That would be so much worse than letting the penguins parade around the park. I think the only place to let the dolphins out would be into the open sea. Though I’m sure they couldn’t jump over that rock wall. It was too high, right?”

  “I don’t think the dolphins are in danger,” Mia said. “But when I was coming out of the bathroom, I heard two teens talking about new rules for logging into and out of the exhibits, because someone has been letting the animals out of their habitats. Though they were going into the dolphin area, so I guess it’s possible that all of the animals are in danger.”

  She stopped walking right in the middle of the sidewalk, and Miss Julia bumped into her. “Oof!” Miss Julia scrambled to pick up her floppy hat and pull it back over her wild curls. “Goodness, Mia. Is anything the matter?”

  “No. Maybe. I don’t think so,” Mia said.

  “Did you see a clue?” Lulu looked every which way as though she was trying to see the clue too.

  “No clues,” Mia said. “Not yet.”

  “Then what are you waiting for? Let’s go!” Lulu said, grabbing Mia again, this time not letting go.

  Mia allowed herself to be pulled along, but her mind wasn’t anywhere near her feet. She’d let everyone in on the secret. Fortunately, no one had been mad she’d held out for so long. But now, the mystery wasn’t her own—her special secret—anymore. Still, she could be the one to solve it, even if her sisters knew about it. If she could just figure out why someone was letting the animals out, it wouldn’t be that hard to then figure out who was making all the trouble. It would be a very good start, at least. And that was all she needed—just a start.

  ELEVEN

  A white arch curved over the entrance to the Chill Zone, which was designed to look like the outside of a snow-covered cave. As they walked through, air-conditioning blasted down on their heads. It felt like walking through an air-conditioning waterfall. On the other side, they found themselves in a snowy landscape. As in, real snow crunched under their feet and drifted down from high above them in the darkness. Or, if it wasn’t real snow—because how could it be—it was as close as inside snow could be. Cold, and the tiniest bit wet. When one landed on Mia’s tank top, its crystal pattern sparkled in the light.

  “Well, I don’t know about clues,” Dad said. “But you sure picked the right place to be on a hot day, Lulu.”

  “How do they make it snow?” Lulu held out her hand to catch a flake. “Look! They melt just like real snowflakes.”

  “How do they keep the room from filling up with snow?” Maddie asked.

  “Looks like it falls pretty slowly,” Miss Julia said. “And down there, near the glass, the snowflakes are swirling around. Maybe there’s some kind of air flow. Perhaps a gentle vacuum to pull some of the snow out of the room.”

  “I think they should let it fill up enough so we could make a snowman,” Lulu said.

  “My ladies, your penguin
s.” Dad bowed and presented the glass like a queen’s herald announcing the arrival of an important guest at the ball.

  Sure enough, the penguins were filing back into their habitat. The observation area was a little lower than the exhibit floor, so viewers could see directly into the penguin’s swimming pool. Snow-covered rocks circled the water.

  “I don’t know why they’d want to leave their nice, cool exhibit to walk around in the blazing hot sun,” Maddie said.

  “Look at that one!” Lulu pointed to a penguin that had clambered out of the water. She was now hurrying around the line of penguins, cutting in front, and diving in again.

  “Do you think the line means anything?” Maddie asked. “I mean, is she cutting everyone?”

  “How do you know that’s a girl?” Dad asked.

  “No one knows, with penguins.” Miss Julia didn’t even have to look this fact up. “The only way to know is if you actually see one lay an egg.”

  “I say it’s a girl,” Maddie said. “Won’t the others be mad?”

  “They don’t look mad,” Lulu said.

  The same penguin shot across the pool, popped back out again, and once again waddled her way to the front of the line.

  “Maybe she’s a little sister, so they’re used to it,” Mia said, and then shrugged off Maddie’s warning look.

  “Mmph!” Lulu said. “Maybe she’s an older sister, and they’re used to her bossing them around.”

  “I never boss—” started Mia.

  “Whoa there, girls,” Dad said.

  “Don’t forget: Glimmer girls, sparkle and shine,” Mom said.

  “But most of all, be kind,” finished Maddie.

  Most of the time, Mia loved their family motto, but not so much when Maddie used it against her.

  “Look!” Lulu said. “There’s a man in the habitat. Do you think he’s the one letting the penguins out? Look at him. He definitely looks shifty.”

  “Shifty?” Mia asked, eyeing him. “What does shifty look like, exactly?”