Dolphin Castle
Dolphin Castle Joan Noëldechen
Sunlight warmed the room. Sara's eyelids fluttered open. She pulled the blue covers closer to her chin. The salty smell of the sea tickled her nose. She wasn't used to being near the ocean. She remembered being tucked into a bed her father had built for her himself. She was amazed that he had made something just for her and this caused her to feel very special.
She loved this room and the many paintings of sailing ships hanging on the walls. She reached for the clock by the bed, which looked just like a brass wheel. It said seven o'clock. Next to the clock sat another shiny brass wheel. Her father had called this a barometer. Sara noticed the strange arrow and numbers, the little sun and dark clouds painted on the face. She couldn't read it at all and decided it must be something that Daddies liked to look at a lot. What Sara liked best of all were the blue and green walls and the way everything reminded her of the ocean that waited just outside.
On the floor next to the bed, Sara found the red backpack her mother had packed for her visit. She reached inside and pulled out a new bathing suit - a new purple one resting at the bottom of the bag. Sara dashed into the bathroom and put on the suit before doing anything else. She washed her face with seashell soap. Then Sara combed her black hair and brushed her teeth.
Sara walked past her father's room. "He's still sleeping," she said before she giggled all the way downstairs. "I'll fix breakfast all by myself."
The oatmeal was hard to find in the dark kitchen pantry. She wasn't sure where Daddy kept anything in this old beach house he lived in all by himself. She heard something-heavy drop to the floor. When she jumped, Sara knocked a can off of the shelf.
"I thought I heard a mouse."
Daddy stood outside the door. Sara rolled her green eyes. "Daddy, you need a light in here."
"I'll have one put in just for you," said Daddy.
"You're so silly," answered Sara.
"Afraid so."
"I couldn't find the oatmeal."
“Oatmeal?”
Sara wrinkled her nose at him. “Yeah, you know. Like those little packets you add water to and then zap in the microwave.”
“I don’t have a microwave, but I’ll bet I can make you something special for breakfast.”
Sara pulled herself on a stool at the breakfast bar, which overlooked the ocean. Watching the waves roll over the sand, she longed to be a dolphin swimming in the surf and for one moment she was just that - until her father placed a plate of colorful fruit in front of her. Sara looked at it from one side to the other. “What’s this?”
“Fresh fruit. Orange slices. Banana. Papaya. Strawberries. Mango. Kiwi…”
“I thought kiwis were birds.”
“Just try it, Sara.”
“Now you sound like Mom.” Sara put a bit of the green kiwi on a fork. She couldn’t help thinking of the little birds for some reason. To her surprise she really liked the sweet fruit. Before she knew it Sara had eaten every bite.
Sara looked up at him. “Daddy, I want to spend the day on the beach. You always tell me how wonderful it is.”
“It is. And I think you should pick the best place for us to build the castle. You’ll be the chief architect. But before you go to the site you’ll have to put on some sunscreen.”
“You’re sounding a lot like Mom again.”
Daddy handed her the bottle. Sara rubbed the white cream on her arms legs and face. She smelled like coconuts.
When she arrived at the shore with her shovel and pail, Sara saw that the sun was low above the water. She found a good place not too far from the house and not too far from the water. Sara found a long piece of driftwood and drew a large square in the sand. Then she drew the outline of a moat around the fine white grains. There was no breeze this morning. Everything about the day was perfect and Sara was with her father for the first time in a long time since he had moved away.
Daddy came down to the place Sara was working on. She was digging the moat with both of her hands and piling a mountain of sand on the island.
They spent the morning digging up a mixture of dry and wet sand. Sara and her father carefully cupped their hands allowing the sand and water to drip on the mountain. They made large and small cathedral spires all over the mound until it looked like a castle. Sara thought about all the people who would live in such a splendid place. And all those people became real to her and she imagined herself sitting with them around a long banquet table, just admiring the view of the ocean from Dolphin Castle.
Sara made four watchtowers around the castle and decorated them with seaweed, sticks, reeds, and shells. She and Daddy were having so much fun at the castle that they didn’t notice the approaching storm.
The rain came down softly at first. The sky grew darker. Daddy looked concerned. “Sara, there’s a storm coming. We’ll have to go inside where it’s safer.”
“We’re not finished. What will happen to the castle?”
“It will be all right.” And with that Sara’s father picked her up in a large terry towel and carried her to the house.
Sara would not be consoled. From the inside she watched the water become darker as it swirled and churned. The once beautiful ocean threatened to take away the castle they had built together. Daddy held Sara closer without saying anything. They both watched their lovely Dolphin Castle disappear beneath the tide’s forceful waves.
Daddy rubbed Sara’s shoulder. “We’ll build another one tomorrow, Sara.”
Sara looked at the empty place where they had built the castle. “It won’t be the same.”
“No, it won’t be the same.” Daddy looked a little sad.
Sara looked hopeful. “It’ll be better. I know it will.”
Daddy smiled at her. “Sara, we’ll always have Dolphin Castle.”
Sara understood. They would always have the memory of this day and of each other. Suddenly she pointed to where the castle had been. “Daddy!”
A large rainbow had made a bridge across the water. Sara held her father close and everything was all right again.