Dory tumbled through the water and bumped into the glass enclosing an undersea exhibit. She blinked her big eyes and saw a group of children on the other side. They stared at her as their tour continued.
“Our next guest has been here a very long time. She’s a whale shark,” said the tour guide. “Her name is Destiny.”
“Destiny?” said Dory with surprise. “Really?”
“You’ll notice she’s extremely nearsighted and has trouble navigating her environment — Oh! Here she comes now!” said the guide, turning toward the glass.
A giant whale shark entered from the other side of the pool. She weaved uneasily, this way and that, as she swam toward Dory with squinted eyes. “Destiny!” said Dory. “You’re a fish?”
“Wait ... what?” Destiny said and swam haphazardly through the tank as she strained even harder in an effort to see. She swerved at the last minute to avoid hitting Dory and the glass.
“Can you help me?” Dory asked. “Whoa,” she said when Destiny nearly crashed into her. “All right, I’ll go with you.” She followed Destiny and tried to get her attention while Destiny zigzagged around the tank. “Excuse me? Hi. Can I just speak to you for a sec?”
Unfortunately, Destiny was distracted. She continued to twist and contort her face, trying to see clearly enough to avoid the walls. She was always crashing into them. “I got it .... I got it .... I got this .... I ...,” Destiny said. But she quickly lost confidence and began to panic. “Where’s the wall? Where’s the wall?” Destiny asked frantically. She was headed straight toward the viewing glass! The tourists on the other side began to panic, too!
At the last moment, Dory took Destiny’s fin and righted her. Dory smiled and waved as Destiny opened her eyes, sighing with relief. With Dory’s help, she’d avoided the crash.
“Excuse me —” said Dory.
“Who is that?” asked Destiny, squinting. “Is that blue blob talking?”
“Can you help me? I lost my family and —”
“You lost your family?” Destiny asked.
“Well, it’s a long story, and truth be told, I don’t remember most of it,” Dory admitted.
“Oh, that is so sad! You poor —” Destiny rammed into a wall. “Sorry. I’m not a great swimmer. Can’t see very well.”
“Oh, I think you swim beautifully,” said Dory. “In fact, I’ve never seen a fish swim like that before.”
“ThAAnkyooOoou!” she said, speaking in whale.
“Yooooouuuuuuu’reweeeeeeeelcooooooooome!” Dory answered in whale.
“Wait. Say that again,” said Destiny.
“You’re welcome!” Dory repeated.
Destiny paused for a moment. “Dory?” she asked, her eyes growing wide. She recognized this fish! “You and I were friends!”
“You know me?” asked Dory. She swam close to one of Destiny’s eyes so the whale shark could take a closer look.
“Aw, you’re so pretty!” Destiny said. Then she lost her balance and sank toward the bottom of the pool. But Dory stayed with her. “Of course I know you!” Destiny continued. “We’d talk through the pipes when we were little. You from your exhibit, me from here. We were pipe pals!”
“We were?”
“It was so much fun, because I’d tell you a story, and then you’d completely forget about it. And then I’d get to tell it to you over and over again. Do you know what I’m talking about?”
“No. Well,” Dory’s eyes shifted downward. “I mean ... I don’t remember.”
Destiny reached the bottom of the pool upside down and stayed there, chatting with Dory. “Yes! See, that’s what I’m talking about! Oh, it’s so great to finally meet you!” said Destiny happily.
“So you know where I’m from?” Dory asked anxiously.
“Yeah,” answered Destiny. “The Open Ocean exhibit.”
Dory was thrilled! “Can you take me there?” she quickly asked.
“Uh ... kinda tough for a whale to travel around here,” said Destiny. She started to look around and realized she was upside down. Dory offered Destiny her fin again, and helped the big fish turn right-side up.
“So you’re a whale?” asked Dory. “Uh ... whale shark, to be exact. But let’s be honest, who likes sharks?”
Suddenly, Bailey, a beluga whale, appeared at a gate that divided the two pools. “Can you please keep it down over there?” complained Bailey. “My head hurts.”
Destiny sighed. “That’s my neighbor, Bailey,” she whispered. She explained that he had been brought to the Institute because of a head injury.
“I know you’re talking about me, Destiny,” snapped Bailey.
Bailey tried to move around to get a better view, but Destiny raised and lowered her fins, blocking him. “He thinks he can’t use his echolocation, but I’ve overheard the doctors talking. There’s not a thing wrong with him.”
“I’m right here. I hear every word you’re saying,” said Bailey.
“What’s echolocation?” asked Dory.
Destiny turned and faced Bailey. “Well, Bailey’s head is supposed to put out a call, and the echo helps him find objects that are far away. Oh, but apparently he’s still ‘healing,’” Destiny said.
“Now I know you’re talking about me,” said Bailey. “I really can’t echolocate.”
“Oh, I cannot have this conversation again. I just can’t,” said Destiny with a sigh.
“I hit my head very hard out there. See how swollen it is?” said Bailey, showing off his bulging head.
“Your head is supposed to be big! You’re a beluga!” said Destiny.
“Echo-lo-cation,” said Dory, puzzling over the word. “Oh! Like the world’s most powerful pair of glasses?”
“What?” asked Destiny.
“What are glasses?” asked Bailey.
“It’s sort of like you go ‘OoooOOOoooOooh’ and then you see things,” Dory said, pretending to echolocate. She paused for a moment. “Why do I know that?” she asked herself.
“Oh, that’s interesting,” said Bailey stiffly. He whispered to Destiny, “Your friend is weird.”
A pool toy splashed into the water, catching their attention. The toy unexpectedly transformed right before their eyes into ... Hank! He swam over to Dory. “There you are!” he shouted. “You and I are square,” he said firmly.
“Hank —”
“I took you to the map —”
Dory excitedly told Hank that she’d found out where she was from.
“Open Ocean?” said Hank. “I know where that is. That’s the exhibit located right next to” — he leaned in and whispered — “I don’t care.”
Destiny told Dory she could get to the Open Ocean exhibit through the pipes. “Take two lefts, swim straight, and you’ll hit it.”
“Oooh, that’s a lot of directions,” said Dory nervously. “Did you get that, Hank? All that?”
But Hank wasn’t interested. “I’m not going with you,” he said. “I won’t fit. You have to go by yourself.”
Dory was afraid. She didn’t trust herself to remember the right way to go. “I’m not so good with directions.”
“Well, that’s too bad,” said Hank. “A deal’s a deal. You want to get to your parents — that’s how you get to ‘em,” he continued, sticking out a tentacle and pointing toward the pipes. “Now give me your tag!”
“But, Hank, I can’t go into the pipes alone. I’ll just forget where I’m going,” Dory pleaded.
“Not my problem,” said Hank. He jutted out another tentacle and yelled, “Tag!”
“But I can’t get in that way!” yelled Dory.
“Well, I’m sorry, but there’s no other way!”
“There’s no other way,” said Dory quietly.
FLASH! Another memory popped into her head.
She could see the grass entrance outside her childhood home as her younger self tried to pull up a shell that was buried deep in the sand.
“There’s no other way,” little Dory said, ready to give up.
“Don’t panic,” said Charlie, swimming over to her.
“It’s okay,” said Jenny. “Not everything in life is easy to do. Isn’t that right, Charlie?”
“That’s right. When something’s too hard, Dory, you should just give up,” said Charlie.
Jenny was startled. “Charlie! How can you —?”
“A joke. I’m kidding! Just a joke ... Caution! Joker at work!” he said, chuckling.
“Oh, honey. Oh, a joke ... I got it,” said Jenny, relieved.
Charlie used his tail to wiggle the shell and pry it out of the sand. It popped right out, and little Dory joyfully plopped inside. Charlie pushed Dory and the shell back toward their coral cave house, lining it up with a bunch of others. “See, kelpcake,” said Charlie, smiling. “There’s always another way.”
Charlie hugged little Dory tightly as she giggled.
The memory vanished when Dory opened her eyes. She was hugging Hank’s tentacle as Hank tried to sneak the tag off her fin!
“Nope,” said Dory. “My father said, ‘There’s always another way.’” She quickly headed for the surface as Hank chased after her. Dory scanned the area, and Destiny pointed out the Open Ocean building over the hill.
“Open Ocean. It’s that building right there. The one that looks like Bailey’s head.”
Bailey surfaced. “Wait, what?”
Then Hank surfaced. “There is absolutely no other w —”
Dory pointed to a rack of baby strollers in the distance, across from Destiny’s pool. “There!” she shouted, interrupting Hank. “We’re gonna use one of those and take it across the park to locomotion,” said Dory.
“Open Ocean,” said Bailey and Destiny, correcting her.
“Exactly,” said Dory.
多莉在水中翻騰著撞上了環(huán)繞海底展廳的玻璃圍墻。她眨了眨大眼睛,看見玻璃墻的另一邊有一大群孩子。他們正一邊游覽一邊盯著她看。
“我們的下一位來賓在這里待了很長時間。她是一頭鯨鯊,”導游說,“她的名字是‘運兒’。”
“運兒?”多莉驚詫地說道,“真的嗎?”
“大家請注意,她近視得特別厲害,在這個環(huán)境中游動起來也有些困難——噢!現(xiàn)在她過來了!”導游說著轉向玻璃墻。
一頭巨大的鯨鯊從池子的另一端游了過來。她瞇起雙眼朝多莉游去,搖搖晃晃地迂回行進,一會兒這邊一會兒那邊。“運兒!”多莉說,“你是一條魚?”
“等等……什么?”使勁瞇著眼想要看個清楚的運兒邊說邊胡亂地游過水池。就在最后一刻,她突然閃避,躲開了多莉和玻璃墻。
“你能幫幫我嗎?”多莉問。“哇噢,”就在運兒快要撞上她時,她說道,“好吧,我跟著你好了。”在運兒曲折前行時,她跟在其身后,想要引起她的注意。“打擾了?嗨,我能跟你說會兒話嗎?”
不幸的是,運兒毫不理會。她繼續(xù)扭扭歪歪,皺著張臉,竭力地想看得清楚一些,以躲避四周的玻璃墻。她總是往墻上撞。“我能行……我能行……這個我能行……我……”運兒說道??墒撬芸炀褪チ诵判?,恐慌起來。“墻在哪里?墻在哪里?”運兒發(fā)瘋似的問道。她朝著觀景玻璃徑直游了過去!另一邊的游客也驚慌起來。
就在最后關頭,多莉抓住運兒的魚鰭,糾正了她的方向。運兒張開雙眼如釋重負,多莉微笑著揮鰭致意。在多莉的幫助下,她躲過了這一次的撞擊。
“打擾了——”多莉說。
“你是誰?”運兒瞇起眼睛問道。“是那團藍色斑點在說話嗎?”
“你能幫我嗎?我跟我的家人失散了——”
“你跟家人失散了?”運兒問。
“啊,這個說來話長,不過老實說,大部分我都不記得了。”多莉承認道。
“哦,那可真不幸!你這可憐的——”運兒猛地撞到了墻上,“對不起,我不是一位好的游泳選手,我看不太清。”
“噢,我覺得你游得很美,”多莉說,“其實,我以前從沒看過像你那樣游的魚。”
“謝——謝——你——!”她用鯨語說道。
“不——客——氣——!”多莉用鯨語答道。
“等等。你再說一遍。”運兒說。
“不客氣!”多莉重復道。
運兒停頓了一會兒。“多莉?”她緩緩地睜大雙眼問道。她認得這條魚!“我們以前是好朋友!”
“你認識我?”多莉問。她朝運兒的一只眼游近,好讓這頭鯨鯊能看得更清楚些。
“哇噢,你可真漂亮!”運兒說。接著她失去平衡,朝著水池底部沉了下去。不過多莉也跟在了一起。“我當然認識你了!”運兒繼續(xù)說道。“小時候,我們就是通過這些管道聊天的。你在展廳那邊,我在這邊。我們是管道伙伴!”
“我們有嗎?”
“那會兒可真有意思,因為我會給你講故事,可你會忘得一干二凈。然后我就一遍又一遍地講給你聽。我剛才說的你都知道嗎?”
“不知道。好吧,”多莉垂下了眼睛,“我的意思是……我記不住。”
運兒沉到水池底部倒立起來,停在那里和多莉聊起天來。“對的!你瞧,我剛才說的就是這個!啊,沒想到居然能見到你,真是太棒了!”運兒開心地說道。
“那你知道我是從哪里來的嗎?”多莉焦急地問道。
“是的,”運兒道,“深海奧秘展區(qū)。”
多莉激動不已!“你能帶我去那里嗎?”她急忙問道。
“呃……對鯨魚來說,想在這里四處游覽可有些困難。”運兒說。她四處打量起來,發(fā)現(xiàn)自己居然是倒立的。多莉又伸出了魚鰭,幫助這條大魚轉正了方向。
“所以你是頭鯨魚?”多莉問。“呃……準確地說,是鯨鯊。不過說實話,有誰會喜歡鯊魚呢?”
突然,貝利,一頭白鯨出現(xiàn)在了兩個水池之間的隔門中。“請問你們那邊能不能小聲點?”貝利抱怨道,“我頭痛。”
運兒發(fā)出一聲嘆息。“那是我的鄰居,貝利。”她輕聲說道。她解釋說他因為頭部受傷而被帶到了研究所。
“我知道你在聊我,運兒。”貝利呵斥道。
貝利想要游過去看得更清楚些,可運兒上下擺動著魚鰭,擋住了他的視線。“他覺得他的回聲定位不能用了,可是我無意中聽到了醫(yī)生們的談話。他根本就沒有毛病。”
“我就在這里呢。你說的每一個字我都能聽見。”貝利說。
“什么是回聲定位?”多莉問。
運兒轉身面對著貝利。“嗯,據(jù)說貝利的頭部應該能發(fā)射出一種聲波,然后這個回聲定位可以幫助他發(fā)現(xiàn)遠處的物體。哦,不過他顯然還在‘治療’當中。”運兒說。
“現(xiàn)在我知道你們是在談論我,”貝利說,“我確實是不能回聲定位了。”
“哦,我不想再說這個話題了,不想說了。”運兒嘆氣道。
“我的頭部在外面受到了嚴重的撞擊。你瞧瞧這里有多腫?”貝利說著展示了一下自己凸出的腦袋。
“你的腦袋本來就該這么大!你是白鯨!”運兒說。
“回聲——定位,”多莉說,她對這幾個字感到困惑不解,“噢!是不是就像那副世界上最厲害的眼鏡?”
“什么?”運兒問。
“什么眼鏡?”貝利問道。
“就好像是你說著‘喔哦喔喔哦喔哦’然后就能看到東西了。”多莉邊假裝在回聲定位邊說道。她停了一會兒。“我怎么會知道這個?”她自言自語道。
“啊,那可真有趣,”貝利生硬地說道。他對運兒悄聲說:“你的朋友可真古怪。”
一只泳池玩具突然飛濺到水中,引起了他們的注意。這個玩具出乎意料地在他們眼前展開變形……變成了漢克!他游向多莉。“你在這里??!”他喊道。“我們兩清了。”他堅定地說道。
“漢克——”
“我?guī)闳タ戳说貓D——”
多莉激動地告訴漢克她知道自己是來自哪里了。
“深海奧秘展區(qū)?”漢克說。“我知道在哪里。那個展廳正好鄰近”——他傾身上去低語道——“我才不關心呢。”
運兒告訴多莉她可以通過管道去深海奧秘展區(qū)。“向左轉兩次后一直向前游,然后你就能看到了。”
“哦,方向可真多啊,”多莉緊張地說道,“你聽到了嗎,漢克?剛才那些?”
可是漢克毫無興趣。“我不會跟你一起去的,”他說,“我不適合。你得自己去。”
多莉很害怕。她不相信自己能記住正確的路線。“我的方向感不是很好。”
“啊,那可太糟糕了,”漢克說,“談好的交易就是這樣。你想去找你的父母——那你就得這樣去找。”他伸出一只觸角指著那些管道,繼續(xù)說道:“現(xiàn)在把你的標簽給我!”
“可是,漢克,我不能獨自進入那些管道。我會忘了我要去哪里。”多莉懇求道。
“與我無關。”漢克說。他伸出另一只觸角喊道:“標簽!”
“可是我不能那樣進去!”多莉喊道。
“嗯,我很抱歉,可是沒別的辦法了!”
“沒別的辦法了。”多莉輕輕地說道。
剎那間!又一段記憶涌入了她的腦海之中。
她看見了兒時家門口的那叢海草,而小時候的自己正使勁地去拉一個深埋在沙地里的貝殼。
“沒別的辦法了。”小多莉說著打算放棄。
“別慌。”查理說著,向她游了過來。
“沒事的,”珍妮說,“生活中不是事事都那么簡單。對不對啊,查理?”
“沒錯。如果有些事情太困難的話,多莉,你就只有放棄了。”查理說。
珍妮大吃一驚:“查理!你怎么可以——?”
“開玩笑的。我在說笑!只是個玩笑……注意!騙到你們啦!”他咯咯笑道。
“噢,親愛的。噢,只是在開玩笑……我明白了。”珍妮如釋重負地說道。
查理擺動尾巴,將貝殼從沙地里撬了出來。貝殼砰的一聲彈了出來,小多莉開心地撲通一聲跳進里面。查理推著多莉和貝殼,回到了他們的珊瑚洞穴小屋,與其他貝殼擺在一起排成了一條直線。“瞧,小寶貝,”查理微笑著說道,“總會有辦法的。”
查理緊緊地抱住了吃吃嬌笑的多莉。
多莉睜開雙眼,記憶隨之消失。她正抱著漢克的觸角,而漢克正試圖偷偷摘下她魚鰭上的標簽!
“不行,”多莉說,“我爸爸說過,‘總會有辦法的。’”她快速地朝著水面游去,漢克緊隨其后。多莉掃視了一下周邊,運兒指了指小山那邊的深海奧秘展區(qū)樓。
“深海奧秘展區(qū)。就是那幢樓??雌饋硐袷秦惱X袋的那個。”
貝利浮出水面,說道“等等,什么?”
這時,漢克浮出了水面。“肯定沒有別的辦——”
多莉指著遠處運兒水池對面的一堆輕便嬰兒車。“那里!”她喊道,打斷了漢克的話,“我們就用那個,坐那個穿過園區(qū)去運洋展廳。”多莉說。
“是深海奧秘。”貝利和運兒齊聲糾正道。
“沒錯。”多莉說。