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
Aria was on a little boat nearby, watching the dolphins try their very best.
Aria could see that Zippy still looked sad, even though he was trying to smile.
Aria leaned over the side of the boat.
“Zippy,” said Aria 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.”
Aria nodded slowly.
“And now the scared is still sitting in you,” said Aria.
Zippy blinked.
“Yes,” he said. “That’s exactly it.”
“That happens to me too,” said Aria. “After something scary. The scared stays for a bit.”
“How do you make it go?” asked Zippy.
Aria thought carefully.
“I let someone stay close,” said Aria. “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 Aria sat at the front of the boat, trailing a hand in the water.
Zippy swam up and nudged it with his nose.
Aria 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.