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Shaun’s schedule was absolutely stacked for today.
She had a book report due in one week, an essay to finish in four days, and a test that she needed to study for tomorrow. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem. She kept her notes organized, her deadlines marked, and her workload planned out in advance.
Unfortunately for her, she also had a habit of getting distracted very easily. Her brain sometimes likes to decide to latch on anything else but her studies.
Shaun stared at her laptop and unfinished work. She leaned slightly toward her notes, before she could stop herself, she fell head first on the table with the strong thud. She let out a loud groan, not even acknowledging the pain in her forehead. Suddenly, a question struck her mind, as if something had activated inside of her.
What do fishes dream about? No, scratch that. Do fishes dream?
Shaun lifted her head slightly, then shook her head immediately. No, absolutely not. She was supposed to be working. Though that thought lasted for a few moments before reaching over to her bag.
Maybe a short break would’ve been best for her! Definitely a very short break.
The walk to the shore was familiar by now. Shaun had taken this path so often she could memorize each step. Where the ground dipped, where the rocks became slippery, and which spots offered the best view of the ocean.
The beach was quiet when she arrived. A few waves rolled lazily against the shore, accompanied by the faint rustling of leaves nearby. Shaun paused briefly, for some reason, disappointment settled in her chest. Dolphin wasn’t always here anyway.
Sometimes she would appear in the morning, the sun barely even up. Sometimes in the evenings, where the ocean was most quiet. The only sound of them talking and giggling around could be heard. Or sometimes, she wouldn’t appear at all. They didn’t have a schedule for whenever they would meet up.
Still, Shaun found herself settling beneath the rocks. Patiently waiting by herself even if it was just for a few minutes. If Dolphin still wouldn’t show up, she’d just head back to the campus dorm.
Shaun leaned back against the rocks. It was slightly uncomfortable, but she had already grown used to it. She curled herself up, gently resting her head against her knees.
The waves continued to roll in. Shaun could hear the small sound of crickets. A few moments passed by, her eyes were threatened to close on its own.
Then, a familiar sound of splashes echo through her ears. Shaun looked up immediately. She squinted her eyes slightly, rubbing her eyes to see more clearly.
Dolphin wasn’t that hard to miss. Partly because, she was quite literally bright blue. She had blue skin, blue hair, and her eyes— Well, one eye was brown. The other was pink. Shaun spent an embarrassing amount of time interviewing Dolphin on how that worked.
Her long hair drifted around her, waves carrying the strands as she moved through the water. Somehow, despite spending most of her life in the sea, she always looked put together. Her clothes were far nicer than anything Shaun would ever consider wearing near the shoreline.
At some point Shaun thought she was glowing, but maybe that was a figment of her imagination.
Dolphin spotted her a moment later. A smile immediately appeared on her face as she changed directions, making her way towards the shore. Shaun’s heart did something strange, but she chose to ignore it.
“Hi Shaun!” Dolphin called out to her. Shaun waved back, offering back a small smile. She stepped out the water with practiced ease. Water dripped from the ends of her hair, disappearing into the shore below. Shaun instinctively shifted from her sitting position. Dolphin plopped down to the space next to her.
“You waited.” Dolphin turned to her. It wasn’t a question, it was more of a statement. She dropped her head down. “Maybe.” She laughed softly, she missed the sound of that. “Sorry I wasn’t here yesterday.” She said, turning her head back. “It’s alright, I know.” Shaun muttered quietly. Dolphin tilted her head, narrowing her eyes. Shaun picked at the sleeve of her jacket
“I missed you.” The words slipped out before she could stop them. For a moment, Dolphin simply blinked at her. “Oh.” Only then did Shaun realize how that sounded, not that she took it back. “You know what I mean, you weren’t here yesterday.” She said, as if that explained everything. Dolphin’s smile softened. “Well, I missed you too.”
Shaun immediately decided that was a very dangerous thing to hear. Fortunately, she had a distraction! Unfortunately, it was the entire reason why she was even here.
Shaun glanced at the ocean once again. The waves kept rolling gently against the shore. For a moment, she watched the ocean in silence. Then she turned back to Dolphin, she tapped on her shoulder lightly. Dolphin responded back with a quiet hum. “Can I ask something?” She murmured. Dolphin looked at her, right before letting out a small laugh. “You ask me questions all the time.”
“Okay, but this one is important.” That immediately caught Dolphin’s attention. She shifted slightly in her seat, now facing Shaun. “Alright, ask away.” Shaun hesitated a little. The question suddenly sounded even weirder out loud than it had in her head. Still, she already came all this way.
“Do fishes dream?”
A beat of silence passed. Then Dolphin let out a dramatically loud sigh, burying her face in her hands. Shaun frowned. “…What?”
“I thought—“ Dolphin stopped herself. Shaun tilted her head slightly, giving her a confused expression. “You thought?” She waited for an answer, then started to play around the hem of her hoodie. “Were you expecting a different question?” Shaun added, like it was an afterthought.
Dolphin peeked at her through her fingers. “A little…” Shaun stared at her for a moment. “What were you expecting?” Dolphin rubbed the back of her neck, then stared at the ocean from afar. Launching herself into the deep ocean once again doesn’t sound bad in this situation right now. “I just—“ She paused hesitantly. “You said it was important.” Shaun didn’t reply immediately, Dolphin took that as a sign to continue.
“I thought you were gonna say something else. That’s it.” Dolphin finally admitted.
“Oh.” Shaun considered for a moment. “This is important…” She pointed towards the ocean. “I’ve been thinking about it all day.” With a groan, Shaun wordlessly dropped her head onto Dolphin’s shoulder. Dolphin startled slightly from the sudden impact.
She turned her head slightly, trying to look at Shaun properly. Dolphin giggled a little by the sight. Even in the dim moonlight, she could make out a faint bump near the center of her forehead.
“Why do you have a bump?” Shaun looked up slowly, bringing her hand up to her forehead too, she let out a small hiss. “Oh.” As if she’d only realized now. “I hit my desk earlier.” Dolphins stared at her. “You… Hit your desk?” Shaun looked at her as if the answer was obvious. “I was thinking hard.”
“Hard enough to do that?” Shaun gave her an unconvincing shrug. “Maybe I was.” Dolphin couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “Did you at least put something cold on it?” Shaun looked away immediately. “Maybe I forgot.. maybe not?”
Of course she did. Dolphin shook her head with a fond smile, resisting the urge to flick the tiny bump on Shaun’s forehead. “I leave you alone for one day…” Shaun rested her forehead against Dolphin’s shoulder once again, much more careful than last time. “In my defense, I was thinking of fish.” She paused hesitantly. “Which going back, you haven’t answered my question.”
Dolphin stared at her for a second, then she laughed. It wasn’t cruel, more like she genuinely couldn’t hold it in. Shaun blinked slowly at her. “What..?” Dolphin pressed a hand to her mouth, still smiling as she tried to calm herself down. “You were serious about that?”
Shaun straightened her posture immediately, visibly offended by the question. “It’s a serious question.” She tried to glare at her, but it came off more cute than intimidating. That made Dolphin laugh again but quieter this time. “I’ve been thinking about it all day!” Her voice squeaking towards the end.
“You already said that.” Dolphin replied, finally settling back into the moment. The laughter slowly faded between them. Not abruptly— just, gently. Like it got carried away by the soft breeze.
Dolphin looked over to the sand, letting her fingers sink into the sand beside them. She started to draw small, absent patterns into it without really thinking. Shaun stayed leaned against her, waiting. Finally, Dolphin spoke, softer than before.
“Honestly,” She said, almost like she was admitting something top secret. “I don’t know neither.”
The silence that followed felt heavier than the previous ones.
“You don’t know?” Shaun said quietly, furrowing her eyebrows.
Dolphin hummed quietly, still dragging her fingers through the sand. “I don’t really know what fishes think.”
Shaun paused hesitantly. “…But you’re a fish yourself?” Dolphin glanced at her briefly. “Not entirely.” She stopped for a bit, wiping off some sand that went to her face. “I am part fish, still human though.”
Shaun frowned deeper, clearly at a loss for words. She obviously already knew that, maybe it was from the millions of times she’d interview Dolphin whenever exams would come up. “So.. Do you dream?” Dolphin didn’t answer immediately. Her fingers kept moving through the sand, slower now. Then, softly—
“Are you human, Shaun?” That made Shaun pause. The answer was obvious, but she still looked up at the sky as if it will give her an answer. Dolphin finally turned her head to look at her properly. “…Yeah?” Dolphin’s expression softened a little, almost amused.
“Do you dream, Shaun?” A beat. Shaun just stared at her again. She didn’t expect Dolphin to respond to her question like that. Before she could think, she muttered under her breath— “…Yeah.”
Dolphin hummed softly, like that was exactly what she wanted to hear.
“Then you already know what dreaming is like.” Dolphin said quietly, before Shaun could respond, Dolphin reached up and gently booped her nose. A bit of sand came off her fingers and stayed on her nose. Shaun reached up instinctively, brushing the sand off her nose. “That still doesn’t answer my question.”
“I know.” Dolphin said with a sheepish smile. Shaun stared at her for a moment, as if she was waiting for another answer to appear. Nothing came. “…So you really don’t know?” Dolphin shook her head. “I don’t.”
She glanced towards the ocean, where the waves quietly rose and fell beneath the moonlight. “Maybe next time I’ll ask.” Shaun blinked. “What?” Dolphin didn’t answer immediately. “The fish.”
“You can do that?” Dolphin couldn’t help but laugh. Ignoring what Shaun had previously said. “I’ll let you know what they say.” Shaun smiled at her. “Please do.”
Silence settled between them once more. Dolphin looked back at the sand, tracing another line with her finger. Only at this time, Shaun noticed what she was drawing.
Two lopsided stick figures. One had absurdly long wavy hair, the other had what looked like a bump drawn on its forehead. Shaun looked at Dolphin, pointing at the drawing in the sand. “Is that us?” Dolphin gave her a look, as if the answer wasn’t obvious enough. “No actually.” She deadpanned. “On second thought, who even are those?”
Shaun smiled widened. “Aha, how funny.” She reached down, drawing a tiny fish between the two stick figures. Dolphin tilted her head slightly. “What’s that for?”
“So when you ask them later…” She paused for a moment. “They’ll know who sent you!” They both giggled at one another. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Though Shaun’s question went unanswered, she still didn’t know if fishes dreamed.
But as she sat there beneath the moon, shoulder pressed against Dolphin’s, she realized that she didn’t mind waiting a little longer for an answer.
After all— She’d would definitely be back tomorrow anyway.