Once upon a time, in a sparkling blue bay, there lived a dolphin named Zippy.
Zippy was the laughiest dolphin in the whole ocean.
Eee-eee-eee! 🐬
He laughed when he jumped.
He laughed when he spun.
He laughed when he splashed the pelicans, who did NOT think it was funny.
But one morning, Zippy didn’t laugh.
He floated quietly.
His tail barely moved.
“Zippy?” said his sister. “Where is your laugh?”
Zippy shrugged. Which is hard to do when you don’t have shoulders.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s just… gone.”
🌊 The Pod Makes a Plan
Zippy’s pod gathered in a circle.
They whispered and clicked and squeaked.
They made a plan.
Step one: tell Zippy the funniest joke they knew.
“Zippy, why don’t oysters share?”
“Why?” said Zippy.
“Because they’re shellfish!”
Zippy smiled a tiny bit.
But no laugh came.
Step two: do the silliest jumps they could.
Three dolphins leapt out of the water at once and tried to do spinning somersaults.
Two of them landed on their faces.
SPLAT. SPLAT.
Zippy watched.
Almost a laugh.
But not quite.
💙 A Different Kind of Help
Harper was on a little boat nearby, watching the dolphins try their very best.
Harper could see that Zippy still looked sad, even though he was trying to smile.
Harper leaned over the side of the boat.
“Zippy,” said Harper gently. “What happened? Before the laugh went away?”
Zippy was quiet.
“I got lost,” he said very quietly. “In the big waves. Just for a little while. But I was very, very scared.”
Harper nodded slowly.
“And now the scared is still sitting in you,” said Harper.
Zippy blinked.
“Yes,” he said. “That’s exactly it.”
“That happens to me too,” said Harper. “After something scary. The scared stays for a bit.”
“How do you make it go?” asked Zippy.
Harper thought carefully.
“I let someone stay close,” said Harper. “And I wait.”
🐬 The Laugh Comes Back
So the pod stayed close.
Not doing silly jumps.
Not telling jokes.
Just swimming gently beside Zippy.
Together.
And Harper sat at the front of the boat, trailing a hand in the water.
Zippy swam up and nudged it with his nose.
Harper laughed.
And something about that small, happy sound —
Eee-eee-eee.
There it was.
Tiny at first.
Then bigger.
Zippy’s laugh came bubbling up from somewhere deep and warm.
He leapt out of the water.
He spun.
He splashed the pelicans again.
“EEE-EEE-EEE!” 🐬
The whole bay rang with it.