Part 3
After leaving Leo and Taylor, Melinda and I headed towards the dolphin stadium.
When we arrived, the seats were already filled. There was nowhere for us to
sit.
"Sorry Mel, looks like we won't be watching the dolphin show after all," I told
her.
She looked up at me with puppy dog eyes, "I want to see the dolphins." Then she
started to cry. It breaks my heart to see her sad like this.
Then this man walk up to us and asked what's wrong.
"I don't get to see the dolphins because there's nowhere to sit," Mel said
still crying.
"How about this, you play a little game with me and my friends, and you can
meet the dolphins close up. Ok?" he asked.
Mel looked up at me. "Mommy?"
Then he whispered in my ear. "I'm a trainer for this show and we pick members
from the audience to help out. You two are going to help me out, ok?"
"Sure, ok. What do we have to do?" I asked.
"Well, you have to pretend that I am your husband." Then he kneeled by Mel.
"And you have to play my daughter."
"Ok, we'll do it," I told him.
The trainer lead up on the stage and sat us on the side of the stage on a
wooded bench. On stage was a man with a guitar and he was singing the song
Sweet Home Alabama. Once he was done, he asked the audience to help him with a
song. They agreed to it. The left side of the audience had to say the word
"H2O." The people on the right had to say the word "WET." And everyone in the
middle had to say "OH MY HAIR!" while covering up his or her head.
They sang the song two times and then started the show. The trainers came out
with the animals and they introduce each one. My favorites happen to be Dolly
the dolphin and Bubbles the whale.
The dolphins did a few tricks and then it started.
"Welcome all to Dolphin Discovery. We have a big show for you today but first
lets meet our guest, Michel?" the lady said.
"Yes. We are here today with the Halliwell family. Where are you guys from?"
Michel asked.
"Well, we're from the upper California of the city of San Francisco," the trainer
acting like my husband said.
"And what are your names?"
"Well, I'm Terry and this is my wife Piper and my daughter Melinda."
"Why don't we have Piper and Terry meet our friends," Michel said as he led
Terry and me close to the water.
Two dolphins came swimming up to us. The trainers help us to do tricks with us
and then it was Melinda time. The trainer Melissa led Melinda onto the middle
of the stage. She had her put boots on so that she wouldn't get wet.
"Ok, so you want to get close to the dolphins, right Mel?" she asked.
"Yes," Mel said.
"Ok, to do that, you are going to have to get into the water. And by that, you
have to dive. Ready Mel?"
"Ready."
"Ok, put your hands up in the air and on the count of three jump. One two…"
I tossed my hands up and froze the whole place, except for Mel. "Wait!" I
screamed and ran over to her.
"Mommy, I wanted to swim with the dolphins."
"Well, you can't swim Mel, remember?"
"I know, but she said she would catch me 'cause she didn't want me to get wet."
"You're sure about that?"
"Yes."
"Ok, back to your place so I can unfreeze this place.
I ran back to my spot and unfroze the place.
"…three," she said and Melinda was about to jump and she caught. " No, I was
just kidding. How about we feed them instead.
She brought a dolphin over and Melinda got to pet the dolphin. Then she got to
feed the dolphin.
"How does your hands smell?" Melissa asked.
"They stink," Mel said.
"Well, the way we get rid of the smell is by rubbing them like this."
She rubbed her hands on her legs and Mel did that on her shorts. The audience
laughed.
"Ok, why don't we get a picture of you with Dolly so that you can remember
this."
One of the trainers gave Terry the camera and he sat on the bridge to take a
picture. The next thing we know, he falls off the bridge and lands in the
water. Everyone starts to panic. One of the dolphins swam up to him and took
him to center stage.
"Well, to let you all know, Terry is really a trainer." Melissa said.
The trainer Terry led Melinda and I towards the back so that we could dry off
and she could change. They gave her a Sea World shirt and shorts and coupons so
we can get free stuff. We didn't see the rest of the show, but what happened
was Dolly and the other dolphins did more tricks, the audience got soaked, and
everyone had fun.
Melinda and I thanked the trainers after the show and then we headed to Cirque
De La Mer to meet up with Leo and Taylor.
TBC
Question 2: How many Shamus are there in the US?
Answer will be on the next post.
