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  1. ALSO BY AUDREY SCHULMAN
  2. THE DOLPHIN HOUSE
  3. ONE Tampa, Florida Feb. 1965
  4. TWO Aug. 1957 Ogunquit, Maine
  5. THREE May 1965
  6. FOUR March 1958 Orlando, Florida
  7. ARRIVAL
  8. FIVE June 4, 1965
  9. SIX June 4, 1965
  10. SEVEN June 5, 1965
  11. EIGHT June 6–10, 1965
  12. NINE June 11–16, 1965
  13. TEN June 17–26, 1965
  14. ELEVEN June 27–30, 1965
  15. TWELVE July 1–8, 1965
  16. THIRTEEN July 9–13, 1965
  17. FOURTEEN July 14, 1965
  18. LANGUAGE LESSONS
  19. FIFTEEN July 15–17, 1965
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN July 18–25, 1965
  22. EIGHTEEN July 26–Aug. 1, 1965
  23. NINETEEN Aug. 2–7, 1965
  24. TWENTY Aug. 8–15, 1965
  25. TWENTY-ONE Aug. 16, 1965
  26. TWENTY-TWO Aug. 17–30, 1965
  27. HOMEARIUM
  28. TWENTY-THREE Homearium, Day 1
  29. TWENTY-FOUR Homearium, Day 3
  30. TWENTY-FIVE Homearium, Days 4–7
  31. TWENTY-SIX Homearium, Week 2
  32. TWENTY-SEVEN Homearium, Week 3
  33. TWENTY-EIGHT Homearium, Week 4
  34. TWENTY-NINE Homearium, Week 5
  35. THIRTY Homearium, Weeks 6–8
  36. THIRTY-ONE Homearium, Weeks 9–11
  37. THIRTY-TWO Homearium, Week 12
  38. THIRTY-THREE Homearium, Week 13
  39. THIRTY-FOUR Homearium, Week 14
  40. THIRTY-FIVE Homearium, Week 15
  41. THIRTY-SIX Homearium, Week 16
  42. THIRTY-SEVEN Homearium, Week 18
  43. THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  45. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Afterward, he carried the skillet, thermometer and rope up the sluice to check the temperature of the sea.

The next day he had the men stretch two large canvas sails across the lagoon, tethering them on one side to several palm trees and on the other side to the railings of the balcony. The result shaded probably half of the lagoon. He lowered the ramp at the end of the sluice, so more seawater poured in.

Blum took the lagoon’s temperature at different levels again that day, then opened the gate further. By the end of the week, when he pulled the thermometer from the lagoon he seemed to approve.

After that, the dolphins played more, sometimes even at noon.

* * *

An important man visited the research center. She knew this man was important because, an hour before he arrived, Eh started picking up all the bathing suits and towels on the balcony, and, through the window, she could see Tibbet inside washing the dishes. She jumped into the lagoon and snorkeled around, making sure not to look in the direction of the building. She knew if she were pulled into cleaning up even once, the men would expect her to do it always.

Once the cleaning had stopped, she waded out, and soon after that, Blum appeared with the man. Blum’s voice was louder than normal, his gestures bigger. On display like this, he gleamed with the man’s attention, puffing up like a bird, his bony body, his shiny eyes. He had begun to remind her of a crow, cocking his head at the world, his feathers shimmering, hungry and canny, observing everything.

He gestured to the sails stretched over the water and pulled the thermometer out of the water. While he talked to the important man, Blum didn’t gesture to her. She didn’t know if he mentioned her name.

ELEVEN
June 27–30, 1965

Here on the island, little rain fell except at night. Every morning dawned sparkling and clear, t-shirt weather, 75 to 85 degrees, the sea always warm. Everything was brightly colored: fuchsia, cyan and lime. The birds, the water, the fleshy tropical flowers, the buildings.

She was in the water each day, watching the dolphins.

Her skin was sticky with dried salt. She wore her bathing suit all day. Each time she pulled herself out of the water, the men would turn to look, and she’d tug on a pair of shorts and a shirt over the suit. These clothes would get soaked, especially at the crotch and breasts, an outline of her erogenous zones.

* * *

She’d been here over three weeks and by this point was throwing fish to the dolphins while she stood only 15 feet back from the lagoon, partly hidden by the boulders. From here, she could see most times which dolphin caught the fish. Although by now at least one of the dolphins (while jumping from the water to catch a fish) must have spotted her holding the next fish, they continued to catch and eat what she threw. Maybe, when she first arrived here, they’d been suspicious of taking food from a stranger, or thought since she threw the fish, it was her fish and not to be touched. Whatever the reason had been, now every time they caught a fish (a hungry clap and a fast swallow), she felt a flash of joy at this, the purest kind of communication.