Barry looked at the sign with excitement. He'd always wondered what it would be to swim with dolphins. He admired their playfulness, beauty and carefree attitude in life.
He walked to the exhibit, expecting to see a long line of people. He was certain that there'd be many others that felt the same as he.
Barry received a shock when he arrived only to see a single woman in line. The rest of the area had a huge deep tank with the dolphins swimming around. The young woman who appeared to be in her mid twenties walked trough a door, a zookeeper closing it behind them.
As he waited, Barry watched the tank. Several dolphins swam by, each of them taking time to look at Barry. As they looked at him, Barry swore that he felt a vague impression from them. The sensation was a feeling of contentment. It was a wonderful feeling. Barry felt disappointed when it faded as they swam away.
The thirty-three year old didn't know what to make of it. In fiction Barry had read, people had portrayed dolphins as possessing empathy or full-blown telepathy. He'd never expected to experience something like this in the real world. Perhaps, he wondered, it was just his imagination.
After some twenty minutes, the door opened. Oddly enough, the young woman didn't exit the building.
A zookeeper beckoned Barry to enter. "You're here to swim with the dolphins?" she asked; Her tone was sweet and soothing.
Barry smiled and nodded. He entered the building and the zookeeper took his right hand. With her other hand, she closed the door behind them. Inside, Barry found himself in a tunnel surrounded by the tank. Barry watched the dolphins as they swam over, beside and under him.
From one of them, Barry felt a sense of adventure, discovery and anticipation. He watched it swim above him before surfacing.
"How can I sense emotions from them?" Barry asked.
"Oh, they have a special ability. Most people find it comforting given the dolphin's innocence and curiosity," the zookeeper said.
Barry nodded "it's nice."
The zookeeper led Barry out of the tunnel, up a flight of stairs and into another room where a large tank waited. The tank had a few dolphins playing in it.
"Hey girls," the zookeeper called out. All three dolphins swam to the surface. "I have a new friend for you."
The three dolphins all chirped at Barry. He felt a welcoming from them, true joy over his being there.
"Oops, I don't have swim trunks!" Barry said.
"That's okay," the zookeeper said.
"You mean I can swim..."
"Naked of course, the girls wouldn’t have it any other way. I'll leave you four. Have fun."
With that, the zookeeper left with a smile on her face.
The three dolphins were clicking and chittering at Barry. He felt an immense sense of welcoming from them. Without another thought, Barry removed his clothes and stepped into the water.
He felt the water as it went up his body. It was cool, but not cold. He submerged all the way up to his shoulders before the dolphins started swimming around him.
Barry felt an amazing sense of peace from the dolphins. He couldn’t help but reach out and touch each of them as they swam in front of him. Their skin was rubbery but soft.
Why Barry felt no self-consciousness from his nudity, he wasn’t entirely sure. He could only assume the dolphins were somehow telling him it was all right to be nude. If anything, he felt playful about it!
Submerging completely, Barry sensed the dolphins following him. He felt no worry that he might not be able to find the tank from which to surface for air.
His skin tingled as the water streamed against it. Kicking his legs, Barry propelled himself forward as he twirled around. The water seemed to warm a bit and his legs and tailbone suddenly ached.
Barry wondered why he'd even questioned swimming naked. That's the normal way to swim right? Barry wasen't sure why he thought that way. His mind felt a little hazy as though he were dreaming. If this was a dream, Barry didn't want to wake up.
The dolphins swam close enough to Barry that one of them was touching his back. He felt a vibration from her. What was that they used? Oh yes, Sonar of course that’s what his kind used!
Barry surfaced in the pool, staying above the water just enough to get fresh air into him before submerging again.
The water flowed over his long and powerful tail as the females surrounded him. Barry watched the dolphins swim in front of him as he felt their sonar hitting him. It was an incredible feeling.
Barry now felt more then just emotion from them, he could hear words. The intensity of the emotion increased. They were all positive. Barry closed his eyes as his jaw and skull ached.
"Hello Barry, my name is Terra. I'm the female to your right."
Barry opened his eyes, now seeing the view from both sides as was normal. He was experiencing a rush of emotion powerful enough that it almost overloaded his mind.
His arms now ached as he felt the water flowing between his fingers seem to hit a barrier of some sort.
Barry for a second tried to talk, only to remember that he didn't need to do that, he could think towards who he wanted to hear his message. Why he'd even considering speaking like humans do was beyond him.
"This is incredible. I feel your joy, your love, I... it all feels like a wonderful dream. I'm worried going to wake up."
Barry's arms, no his flippers felt normal now.
He knew something was off. Everything felt natural as though it was always this way. For a second Barry felt a wave of panic. He surfaced for air, this time in the main tank.
Barry breathed out of his blowhole; an action that felt natural. It was always there ... wasn’t it?
Shaking the cobwebs from his mind, Barry realised what had happened to him. He seemed to wake up from the bliss like state he'd been in. Everything had felt normal. Like in a dream where everything (surreal as it may be) feels normal, Barry's form had felt like his real one!
Barry knew something incredible had happened to him. Something so incredible that his mind initially didn't want to believe it. Perhaps, he wondered this was why he'd been seeing things as not having changed at all.
Other dolphins, several females and males swam close to him. Barry felt their comfort. He wasn’t in this alone, not in the slightest.
"We were like you once Barry. We were human as well."
"Being a dolphin is an incredible gift. I can sense how you're confused but you seem to enjoy how your new form feels."
Barry was confused. Was it true? Was he really a dolphin?
"You mean, this is real. It feels so ... good. I’m ... this is ... real. I'm really a dolphin?"
If Barry could have shaken his head, he would have. Not to rid himself of the reality but to control his emotions and excitement when he realised the answer to his questions was a yes.
One of the female dolphins swam up next to Barry.
"Hi Barry, I'm Cassandra. I was that young lady you saw in line. Yes, it's okay to feel that way. It feels so wonderful doesn’t it? It's not like when we were human and had to hold back. Now we're allowed to let go. Embrace it.”
Oh boy, she was telling him what he wanted to hear. He felt assurances from all of them. Any mental barriers inside of him fell away. It wasn’t long before he found himself resuming swimming, the action feeling as natural as any other. Barry felt released. A part of him, a wonderful part was waking up!