Trade Deadline - Avon Gale Page 0,3
amazing, as far as Micah was concerned.
As the head animal care specialist for the Biscayne Bay Aquarium, Micah’s main job was overseeing the rehabilitation programs for all the animals currently in captivity. Most of them—like Dudley the sea turtle, with whom Micah had just had a very pleasant, one-sided conversation—were on a release schedule, but the aquarium did have a few full-time residents that were unable to integrate back into the wild. One of those was Silver, the dolphin who had become something of a mascot for the aquarium, currently sharing a large tank with a soon-to-be-released female dolphin named Bonnie.
Micah knew, logically, that while Silver was pretty smart, he could have no way of knowing his new friend Bonnie was going to be leaving soon. Micah liked to try and prepare Silver for the day he was back to being an only child, so to speak, even though he realized Silver was probably used to it by now. He considered good, clear communication as part of his duties. Also, it was just fun to talk to dolphins. How many people could say they did that for a living?
A quick check of his schedule showed his next educational tour wasn’t for another fifteen or so minutes, giving him plenty of time to go bid good morning to his favorite two dolphins. Micah enjoyed leading the educational tours, too. Like most people who worked at a nonprofit, his job duties were many and constantly evolving. His just involved giant sea turtles, dolphins and the occasional cranky electric eel. And school children. Sometimes the eels were easier to deal with. They didn’t try and throw popcorn into a tank full of manta rays.
As Micah approached the tank where Bonnie and Silver could be found swimming around, he caught sight of a small child, about six or seven, clutching a stuffed toy. She looked up, wide-eyed, when Micah approached.
“A dolphin,” she said, softly, pointing. “They got dolphins in there. Just like Octonauts!”
Micah grinned, going down on his haunches. He was wearing his bright blue staff shirt, which he was sure her guardians had denoted meant safe grown-up to talk to. “Yeah, we do. We have two. That one, her name’s Bonnie. She’s named after a famous pirate! Do you know what pirates are?”
The little girl nodded wisely. “In movies and stuff.”
“That’s right! Bonnie’s named after Anne Bonny.” Micah pointed at the tank. “When she gets better, she’s going back in the ocean!”
The little girl lifted her stuffed animal—a manatee—and hugged it. “What’s wrong with her?”
“She got all caught up in a net,” Micah said, adding quickly, “but she’ll be okay.”
There was a concerned sniff. “Promise?”
Micah nodded and placed a hand on his heart. “Promise.”
“What about the other one? Is she gonna go home, too?”
Charmed, Micah gave a little laugh. “That’s Silver, but he lives here all the time. He was hurt when he was real little, and got used to being around people. So he wanted to stay here, and we said, okay, sure, but you gotta pull your weight. You know what that means?”
She shook her head.
“It means there’s no such thing as a free lunch!” Micah stood up and whistled sharply. The other dolphin, Silver, leaped gracefully from the water and performed a trick. The little girl clapped in delight.
“You made that dolphin jump up!” She tried whistling, which was adorable, but her little face fell when she realized it wasn’t making the dolphin do anything. “How’d you do that?”
“Lots of training,” Micah said, solemnly. “You have to go to school for a long time to learn how to whistle to dolphins.”
She nodded. “Okay! I’m gonna ask my teacher if she knows. She’s smart, she knows about math.”
“Ava! What are you doing?”
Micah turned as a couple of anxious-looking women came around the corner, pushing a stroller. “Hi!” he said, wanting to put them at ease. “I’m just talking to—is it Ava?—here about our dolphins.”
“Mama, Mom, the dolphin is a lady pirate that got stuck in a net and now she’s gonna go out ’sploring! Like a pirate! But the other dolphin Silver lives here now and when you whistle he jumps in the air!” Ava clearly wasn’t too concerned about making her parents worry. “M’gonna ask my teacher if I can learn how to whistle at dolphins ’cause it takes a loooooong time and you can only learn it in school.” She made a face. “Maybe me ’n’ Sprinkles will be like Bonnie and go ’sploring, that might take less time