The Dolphin’s Kidnapper

If there ever was a naughty Dolphin in the seas, it had to be Petra, the little Bottlenose Dolphin. Tricks and tales came naturally to him, and all the other little dolphins in the sea found him extremely entertaining, while the adults found him extremely tiresome. Several bouts of scolding and punishments later, Petra couldn’t be cured of his mischief, and they just let him be.

That particular day, Petra was in a good mood. He had the feeling that he was going to have a wonderful day playing the fool with his friends. And since they lived close to the beach, he thought he could show off some of his swimming tricks to the humans who watched them from the shore. He swam down to his regular haunt, where the other young dolphins were discussing their diving skills. “I dived right down to where the jellyfish live”, said one. “And you know how they sting! I just about escaped with my life!”

“Oh that’s nothing”, said another. “I dived right down to where the octopus lives, and was almost caught in its tentacles!” Now, Petra hadn’t done much diving, (and in fact, neither had the other young dolphins) because they were still small, and had yet to gain control over their breathing. They were mammals, and didn’t have gills like the other fish. They had to come up to the water surface from time to time, to draw in air into their lungs through the “blowhole”, an opening located right on the top of their heads.

But how could Petra keep quiet? He came up with a fantastic story of his own. “Pooh! You’re all so pathetic! Now I – I have dived deep enough to see the legendary Snake Dragon!” “Snake Dragon?” All the other dolphins opened their eyes wide at this statement. “How does it look?” enquired one. “Why do you call it legendary?” said another. Petra swelled up in importance as he quickly cooked up a grand description. “It’s seventy feet long”, he said, “And atleast ten feet wide. Absolutely monstrous to look upon, I tell you….It has red, bloodshot eyes that strike fear in the hearts of all who meet its gaze— and four rows of sharp, pointed teeth—and..”

While Petra boasted about the non-existent Snake Dragon, and his friends listened in wonder, a shadow that lurked in the murky waters just below, was hanging on to Petra’s every word. It poked its head up a bit, wondering whether to reveal itself; then thought better of it and swam away, turning into a pale black shadow once again. Petra’s friends, meanwhile, were challenging him to dive deep down once again, and maybe lead them to have a glance of the legendary monster too. “Oh, it doesn’t reveal itself all that easily”, he said hastily. But his friends wouldn’t give up. “Come on Petra, we’d like to see this impressive Snake Dragon of yours”, they said.

Petra had no option but to give in to their demands. He decided to dive down as fast as he could, so that most of the Dolphins wouldn’t be able to follow him. He went up for a long gulp of air, and set off into a steep, fast dive. By the time the other dolphins could dive down themselves, Petra was far ahead. He went as far down as he could, till he was sure that there was no one following him. He didn’t notice something long and slimy and thin quietly sliding into his blowhole. He went back up to the surface for air, but what a shock the poor fellow got! His blowhole was blocked!

“Oh, I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” he cried, and dived down again and shook himself, trying to get rid of the object that had clogged up his “nose”. But whatever it was, it had got a very firm hold of Petra! Petra was almost in tears and started wailing, hoping it would bring his other dolphin friends to his help. But then, the “object” spoke, and it sounded as though it was speaking right into his head! “Stop making such a ruckus, you silly dolphin!” it said. “I could suffocate you to death right now, so stop wailing and do as I say!”

Petra was scared and impatient. “I shan’t! I won’t! You’re hurting me! Get out of my blowhole this instant, I say!” Petra couldn’t see the creature entirely, but it was definitely troubling him terribly. All he could see was the rear end of a long, thin, slimy body that seemed to wriggle like a worm in the waters. “If you value your life, do exactly as I say and stop whining”, the voice said. “If you refuse to obey, I must warn you that I can eat you inside out! All I have to do is get right in through this blowhole of yours and devour your insides!” Petra shivered at the thought. How could it do that? Was it really so powerful? But anyway, he didn’t want to risk losing his life. He was already struggling without enough air to breathe.

“Alright, alright!” Petra surrendered as he gasped for air. “I’ll do as you say. Just don’t eat me. But what sort of creature are you?” The creature laughed. The laugh sounded eerie as it reverberated in Petra’s brain, sounding like it was emanating from him. It was as though he had been possessed by an evil spirit. “Didn’t you tell your friends back there about a ferocious Snake-Dragon? Well, that’s what I am!” Now Petra was very, very afraid. He hadn’t known there was a real Snake Dragon! “What do you want me to do?” he asked fearfully.

“Take me to the other side of the sea, far, far away from the beaches”, it said. “And no funny games, mind you, or else I’ll feed on your brain!” Petra shot off like a rocket through the waters immediately. He knew that the place he was going was dangerous for a little dolphin like himself, but what could he do? His kidnapper was forcing him to do it. As he reached the dark, deep inner waters of the ocean, he could sense the presence of huge sharks in the vicinity. One of them seemed to have seen him, and was swimming towards him, determined to prey upon him.

“Now I’ll die anyway”, wailed Petra. “Not so fast”, said the creature and as the shark came close enough, it released a huge cloud of slime onto the shark, right from its outer skin! Yuck! The sticky, irritable slime got into the gills of the shark, clogging it. The shark beat a hasty retreat, as Petra watched the spectacle in wonder. Unknown to Petra, his kidnapper was the Hagfish, also called the “Slime Eel,” which could defeat its enemies by spraying them with a cloud of the stickiest slime! And it wanted to escape the humans who were trying to capture it for its slime.

It let go of Petra now, and sailed away into the dark waters with a parting line to Petra: “You’re free to go now!” Petra lost no time in rushing back home. His family was worried sick. But what did he tell them? “The Snake Dragon kidnapped me, Mother”, he cried. That was enough to wipe out any trace of sympathy that had been built up during his disappearance. Everyone dismissed it as another one of his tall tales. There never was a Snake Dragon, was there?