"HOPE"
By Cherie J. Gierak
@ Insight Publishing
Dawn mused, at least the weather isn't going to interfere this time, in fact they couldn't have asked for a better day as all appeared to be right with the world. She felt a knot in her stomach and at first she thought it was fright or fear and yet these feelings were irrational as she knew that everything would go as planned. Then it dawned on her, it was stage fright. There would literally be hundreds of cameras and observers recording this effort to bring Man and Dolphins together. Man and Dolphin had tried to cooperate and share in the past. And she remembered the dreams and writings of Plato, written 300 years before the birth of Christ. She remembered that each time it ended in tragedy as the local population of those times rushed to the shore in their ignorance and fear with clubs and turned the water red with the blood of innocent and intelligent Dolphins. Would this shared dream of Plato's be once more met with Man's ignorance and brutality at that, he does not understand? Xenophobia is like a dark mantle over Mans' subconscious by which he distrusts and fears all that he cannot control or understand. Perhaps over the two millennium that have passed since the first attempts, Man will now be ready to begin a new page in communications history, moving forward for the first time since Man learned to communicate with Man, at least she could hope!
Momentarily, returning to reality, Dawn, noted that a few people were starting to take seats for breakfast, but none of the Institute members were yet there. Drifting again into deep thought she started to remember how it had all started to come together.
Steven and she had been swimming in the show tank and enjoying the company of the Dolphins at CiCi in Acapulco. CiCi was the Mexican equivalent of an American Sea World with a variety of sea creatures including fish, mollusks and mammals. As they had started to leave the water they heard applause. Looking up they saw a man sitting alone in the bleachers. As they waved to him he motioned them to come up and join him, which they did. As he greeted them he introduced himself as James Catalpa. Dawn extended her hand and said "I'm glad to meet you Mr.Catalpa, for if I had not had the pleasure I would have gone through life believing that Anthony Quinn had been sitting up here watching us. Mr. Catalpa smiled and nodded saying, "It would not have been the first time I had been mistaken for that film actor, But I'll bet your husband has had the same problem being mistaken for Steven Burton." Dawn laughed and admitted that her husband had been more than once mistaken for Mr.Burton but she added "He may on the outside bare a strong resemblance to that fine actor but to me he is more of a Charlton Heston but then I know what's in his heart."
As the three of them stood there getting acquainted Mr.Catalpa indicated he had wandered into the show area of the park trying to find a place to be alone and get out of the heat. He told them that he often came to this place because he and his son had visited the park days before his sons death. His son had always marveled at the antics of the Dolphins and had often expressed wonder at the grace and apparent intelligence of these creatures. How he wished that his son could have witnessed the wonderful sharing he had just seen between the couple and the Dolphins. He went on to say that it had seemed as though they had an unseen or unheard language going on between them. Steven and Dawn smiled at each other and said yes, it was something like that. Noting that it was almost show time Steven and Dawn bid James goodbye and turned to leave and as they did James asked if they might have dinner with him that evening? They explained that they had other plans and he then asked if they would be swimming with the Dolphins again soon? They replied that they would again be swimming with the Dolphins in the morning, about 8 AM. The man seemed pleased and bid them good day.
As the light crept over the Acapulco hills and cast its shadows and light over CiCi, Dawn and Steven were arriving at the park to find James awaiting them outside the side entrance. He asked if he might join them in their swim with the Dolphins. He had already cleared it with the owners of the park and they had approved it since he was with them. After a short discussion it was agreed that James could join them in the tank with the Dolphins as long as he could assure them that he would be at ease during his encounter. His outgoing nature and self confidence rose from within him as he declared that after watching Dawn and Steven the day before how could he feel anything but at ease with such gentle creatures. He also told them he could think of nothing more important or exciting than sharing that feeling of friendship he had seen the day before.
Dawn and Steven could not refuse James this opportunity to experience possibly the same rapport that they experienced when swimming with these marvelous mammals of the sea. The three of them went into the Park and proceeded to the locker rooms to change into their bathing suits. As Steven and James began to change, Steven noted that James already had his swimming suit on under his clothing. Inwardly he smiled at the man's confidence that he would join them in the tank with the Dolphins. As they rejoined Dawn the three of them went to the tanks edge and the Dolphins were leaping out of the water and pirouetting for them, in greeting. The group was unable to resist the temptation to applaud this greeting and they found themselves smiling at each other as they applauded the beauty and grace of these intelligent creatures.
After some two hours in the tank with the Dolphins, they gave their farewells to the dolphins. Dawn at the tanks edge hugging the Dolphins one at a time. While Steven had his hand and arm, up to the elbow, in the mouth of another gently stroking the upper palate. James appeared to be somewhat depressed and upon questioning he stated he was disappointed that the Dolphins didn't come near him while he was in the tank, let alone offer him rides or play games with him, as they had done with Dawn and Steven. He indicated that he felt as if he were in a different tank without any Dolphins at all. He was confused and curious as to why the Dolphins had ignored him. While at the same time they had frolicked and played with Steven and Dawn just as they had done the day before. So again he invited the couple to dinner and this time they accepted his invitation.
It was during dinner that James again commented that it seemed as though the couple and the Dolphins had their own language that he was unable to hear or see. It was then that they started to explain of their many years of research with the Dolphins and of their mind to mind communication through the use of telepathy. Why of course James exclaimed, it had to be something like that. He knew something had been going on but he just couldn't figure out what. As they explained their work James became more and more interested. As the evening grew late he asked if they could teach him some of the techniques that they used. They assured him that anyone could learn and parted, leaving him with their phone number and address back in the States. They invited him to contact them when they returned home, if he wanted to learn more. Little did they know that they had just met the man that they had been searching for the last twenty years. The one that could help them start a new page in communication history, not to mention Man and Dolphin history!
James Catalpa was a quiet serious sort of man, one who had known what it meant to be poor. And now enjoyed the luxury of being one of the very wealthy. A man who could do or get done whatever it was he felt needed doing. He was born in a small town on the Rio Grande about twenty miles from the Gulf of Mexico, in the town of Brownsville Texas. Born in the early thirties and the youngest of threes children, he was the only one to attend college and even he had to cut short his education when his father died during his second year. With the loss of their father the brothers had to take over the running of the ranch. After several hard years one brother had given up and left to find his fortune elsewhere, the remaining two hung on and slowly the ranch began to grow. With the buying of more land to expand the brothers had to locate more water. It was during the drilling of a deep water well that they hit a gusher. The spouting column of black gold was to forever change the families' future.
It was shortly after the finding of oil that James married his childhood sweetheart and had a son by her. Within a few short years though the marriage was over and ended in divorce. As a result, James had little contact with his son except on holidays and during the summer. They spent their summers working on the ranch and taking trips to wherever they pleased. His son was constantly wanting to go where there were Dolphins. Because of this James and his son had visited every facility that possessed Dolphins throughout the United States and Mexico. When his son reached the age of 18 he asked to join his father in running the oil corporation and James was overjoyed at his son's decision. Father and son worked together for many years building and expanding the family fortune. Then on one fateful day a call came in from one of their offshore oil rigs that there were strange vibrations coming from the rig itself. James's son had flown out to the rig to look over the problem and perform a complete inspection. He never returned from that inspection.
Shortly after his arrival the entire rig collapsed killing some thirty five men and producing one of the largest oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico.
Since then James had been looking for ways to make the rigs' safer for all who worked on them and safer for the environment. Little did he dream that a vacation trip to commemorate his son's death would bring him together with this couple who appeared to be able to talk to Dolphins and could possibly lead to an answer to his quest!
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