Ice Phoenix Read Free

into a dive. Just before she re-entered the water, she caught a fleeting glimpse of the beach.
    She remained under water, using minimal movements to keep herself submerged, and gazed ahead. She hovered on the edge of the lagoon where the light blue waters gave way to the looming darkness of the majestic ocean. One stroke too many and she would be swept away by the currents. But, as usual, the dolphin was watching out for her. There was a sharp pain in her ribs as it prodded her with its snout.
    " Ooooooor!" That was underwater talk for 'ouch.' Terrana glared fiercely at the dolphin but backed away hastily when she saw he intended to repeat his scolding. Four kicks and she was back in the arms of the shallow lagoon, close to the small reef she had swum through. The dolphin appeared satisfied with this and swum around her happily.
    Puddy — that was what she called him — was the largest bottle-nosed dolphin she had ever seen, and he was always alone. The other dolphins that visited the lagoon from time to time were curious about the lonely dolphin; they had tried on many occasions to embrace him into their pods but always left bewildered and without him. No one knew why he did not want to join others of his own kind. Instead, he chose to swim only with Terrana, and avoided all the other people on the island.
    She broke through the surface and turned onto her back, releasing a contented sigh. This was the absolute best — swimming alongside her best friend with nothing to disturb them.
    " I had that strange dream again, Puddy," she said after a few minutes had slipped by. The dolphin was almost unmoving by her side, seemingly listening to what she had to say.
    " I was floating in that darkness again. I know it wasn't the sky because there weren't any stars and it wasn't in my head coz it was too quiet. There wasn't any noise at all and even when I screamed I couldn't hear myself." She paused and reached out to stroke Puddy. "And then I was at that school again looking at it from the outside. I wanted to go in, and this sounds weird I know, but something was keeping me out. I could only watch from the school's perimeter. I could see the students — they were so cool!"
    A smile played about her mouth as she recalled her dream. "One of them had two antennae on his head and his skin was blue. Another was floating by on his buta , I mean ass, sorry, butt, and he looked like a giant cockroach. Eew, I hate cockroaches!" She shuddered. "It reminded me of the movie Star Trek you know."
    There was a splash as Puddy used his flipper abruptly. "Oh sorry, you don't know Star Trek."
    She turned over and put as much of her right arm around Puddy as she could. He was, she guessed, around four metres in length and probably weighed close to four-hundred kilos. She rested her face against him, close to his head, and smiled. She could sense his big brown eyes looking at her and she gave him a peck on the side of his face.
    " I wish I could stay in the water forever with you! Then we could go exploring the ocean together all the way to the North Pole and meet whales and seals and see everything on the ocean floor! And we could also sabotage those ships that try to catch you for food."
    It didn 't matter that she had said it a million times before. The sea was her home and she wanted to live her life in it with Puddy, exploring the watery world away from humans. And it didn't matter that he'd done it a million times before — Puddy still raised a flipper and pushed her away as if to say, "Don't be stupid."
    The push sent her tumbling towards the seabed and she spread out her arms to stop her rapid descent, striking for the surface. She broke through, gasping water.
    " Fine," she said sullenly, "be that way. But just you wait, one day I'll find a way to spend all my time in the water and then you won't be able to get rid of me!"
    Puddy released a chatter of noises, seemingly laughing. He flipped upright in the water and wagged a flipper. He was