across the water.
“ I think it must be a wonderful place with no pain or sorrow, a place to be free. Kind of like a big ocean where you can swim around in warm water without fear.” Her eyes rested on me. “Why do you ask, Sarah?”
I shrugged. “I just wondered. Nana says that sometimes people can come back as an animal―after they die, I mean. At least that’s what the Nootka believe.”
“ What would you come back as?” my father asked me. “An eagle?”
“ No way. I’m too afraid of heights.”
My parents snickered loudly.
“ I know what I’d come back as,” my mother said.
“ What?” I asked.
She reached over, picked up the headphones and slipped them over her head. She grinned and passed them to me. At first, there was only silence. Then I heard the soft keening of a whale.
“ A whale,” I guessed.
She grinned. “Then Dad could study me .”
Her eyes met my father’s and they gazed intently at each other for a long time. I studied them apprehensively, engraving that memory on my mind. Suddenly, I sensed a change in the air around me. It was as if we were in a vacuum. For a second, the breath was sucked right out of me. A shiver ran up my spine.
“ And if I was a whale,” my mother continued. “You and your father could come out here and visit me every day. But you’d have to learn how to speak orca , so we could communicate.”
She made short clicking sounds and cried like a whale.
I shrugged off my dark mood and laughed at her giddy behavior. But I felt a lump in my throat when I replayed the conversation in my mind.
“ Look!” my father shouted.
My mother and I turned our heads in unison and saw four whales surfacing near the schooner. The pod frolicked in the water and we shrieked when the largest whale lifted right out of the water and slammed sideways on the surface.
Then I spotted something in the distance.
A single killer whale swam about thirty yards behind the pod. It was a calf and it was trying to catch up to the four adult whales.
My father’s brow pinched in bewilderment. “That’s the same calf we saw last time. But that’s not her pod. They have different markings.”
Saddened, I gazed at the calf. “Where’s her family then?”
He rubbed his face. “She’s somehow gotten separated from them. She’s still rather young to be on her own though.” He flipped through his notebook and jotted something down.
“ Will this pod take her in?” my mother asked.
He sighed. “I don’t know. I’ve heard it happen occasionally, but it’s not common for a pod to adopt another whale.”
At that moment, Skip interrupted us. “I think we should head in, Professor. The winds are changing and we could be in for a storm.”
My eyes drifted toward the lonely calf. She followed the other whales, always remaining a safe distance behind them. It was as if she were desperately trying to seek approval from the other pod.
I knew how it felt to be different, to be an outcast.
Two days later, my mother relapsed and was back in Bamfield General. This time she stayed in the hospital for four days and Dr. Anders released her with strict warnings that she was to spend the next two days in bed. He said she needed to rest more during the day and he gave her some medication to take daily.
School had made special accommodations for me during the past month and when I finally returned to class, I was greeted by a warm round of applause from my classmates and Mrs. Higginson.
Everyone seemed to be happy that I was back.
Except Annie Pierce.
On my way to the girl’s washroom, I was ambushed. Annie shoved me inside and barred the exit. Her friends remained out in the hallway, guarding the door.
“ Think you’re somethin’ special, don’tcha?” Annie smirked.
I felt like a kitten cornered in a cage with a voracious lion.
“ You’re just white trash,” she muttered as she paced in front of me. “And not even Canadian trash. Why don’tcha go on back to the
“ I think it must be a wonderful place with no pain or sorrow, a place to be free. Kind of like a big ocean where you can swim around in warm water without fear.” Her eyes rested on me. “Why do you ask, Sarah?”
I shrugged. “I just wondered. Nana says that sometimes people can come back as an animal―after they die, I mean. At least that’s what the Nootka believe.”
“ What would you come back as?” my father asked me. “An eagle?”
“ No way. I’m too afraid of heights.”
My parents snickered loudly.
“ I know what I’d come back as,” my mother said.
“ What?” I asked.
She reached over, picked up the headphones and slipped them over her head. She grinned and passed them to me. At first, there was only silence. Then I heard the soft keening of a whale.
“ A whale,” I guessed.
She grinned. “Then Dad could study me .”
Her eyes met my father’s and they gazed intently at each other for a long time. I studied them apprehensively, engraving that memory on my mind. Suddenly, I sensed a change in the air around me. It was as if we were in a vacuum. For a second, the breath was sucked right out of me. A shiver ran up my spine.
“ And if I was a whale,” my mother continued. “You and your father could come out here and visit me every day. But you’d have to learn how to speak orca , so we could communicate.”
She made short clicking sounds and cried like a whale.
I shrugged off my dark mood and laughed at her giddy behavior. But I felt a lump in my throat when I replayed the conversation in my mind.
“ Look!” my father shouted.
My mother and I turned our heads in unison and saw four whales surfacing near the schooner. The pod frolicked in the water and we shrieked when the largest whale lifted right out of the water and slammed sideways on the surface.
Then I spotted something in the distance.
A single killer whale swam about thirty yards behind the pod. It was a calf and it was trying to catch up to the four adult whales.
My father’s brow pinched in bewilderment. “That’s the same calf we saw last time. But that’s not her pod. They have different markings.”
Saddened, I gazed at the calf. “Where’s her family then?”
He rubbed his face. “She’s somehow gotten separated from them. She’s still rather young to be on her own though.” He flipped through his notebook and jotted something down.
“ Will this pod take her in?” my mother asked.
He sighed. “I don’t know. I’ve heard it happen occasionally, but it’s not common for a pod to adopt another whale.”
At that moment, Skip interrupted us. “I think we should head in, Professor. The winds are changing and we could be in for a storm.”
My eyes drifted toward the lonely calf. She followed the other whales, always remaining a safe distance behind them. It was as if she were desperately trying to seek approval from the other pod.
I knew how it felt to be different, to be an outcast.
Two days later, my mother relapsed and was back in Bamfield General. This time she stayed in the hospital for four days and Dr. Anders released her with strict warnings that she was to spend the next two days in bed. He said she needed to rest more during the day and he gave her some medication to take daily.
School had made special accommodations for me during the past month and when I finally returned to class, I was greeted by a warm round of applause from my classmates and Mrs. Higginson.
Everyone seemed to be happy that I was back.
Except Annie Pierce.
On my way to the girl’s washroom, I was ambushed. Annie shoved me inside and barred the exit. Her friends remained out in the hallway, guarding the door.
“ Think you’re somethin’ special, don’tcha?” Annie smirked.
I felt like a kitten cornered in a cage with a voracious lion.
“ You’re just white trash,” she muttered as she paced in front of me. “And not even Canadian trash. Why don’tcha go on back to the
Similar Books
