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11
Daisy
Daisy the dolphin lived on her own in the aquarium in Crookhaven. When she first arrived there were arguments about where Daisy came from, and who owned her. To make sure that there were no disputes in the future, the curator had a daisy shape branded on her dorsal fin.
During the day Daisy did her shows in the display area. After each performance she would swim into a tiny holding pool. A metal grill would be pulled across the entrance. She would stay there until her next show.
Daisy spent most of her time swimming in circles. She remembered the time when she could swim in a straight line in the open sea, but that was long ago. Daisy had been captured when she was young. Now the humans who controlled her life were her family and friends. Tina, one of the trainers, was the human she liked most of all. Daisy would do anything to please Tina.
There was a time when Daisy had a dolphin friend. He was called Boomps. Boomps came from another aquarium. He had been to lots of aquariums.
Daisy always did what her trainer signalled. But sometimes Boomps would do something different for no reason at all. Often he would swim around the pool at high speed, jump high in the air and fall backwards into the water with an enormous splash. Then, like two conspirators, Boomps and Daisy would stay underwater pretending they couldn’t see the signals of the trainer who was trying to get them to do their routine. Daisy enjoyed doing shows with Boomps. Then he became ill and died quite suddenly.
Daisy was very sad. After Boomps had gone she wanted to be with Tina, her favourite trainer, more than ever. The nights were an awful time for Daisy. She would feel very lonely. She remembered the time when there were stars in the sky. Now all she could see overhead was the dim roof over her pool.
Each morning Daisy would wait to feel the first vibrations through the water. It was the sound she had been waiting for all through the lonely night It was the sign that humans were coming. First she would hear distant doors opening. After that came the clatter of the fish bucket as the trainers prepared for the show.
When music poured out of loud speakers Daisy knew the show was about to begin. That excited her. She would swim faster and faster around her tiny enclosure. With nothing else to occupy her mind, the show was the one thing she lived for.
Daisy loved people, especially her trainers. She jumped and swam to please them. They fed her. But above all else, after her night in solitude, it was contact with humans she craved for most of all.
Every day throughout the summer season was the same. Daisy waited for what she knew would happen next. The music would stop. Then an announcement would blare out of the loud speakers.
“Ladies and gentlemen. boys and girls,” it boomed. “The moment you have been waiting for is here. Give a big Crookhaven welcome to the star of the show - Daisy the dolphin!”
At that moment the iron grill I that had kept her confined to her overnight quarters would be pulled aside and Daisy would swim into the main pool. She would circle the pool twice and then rear out of the water by the platform and open her mouth to receive her first fish of the day.
The audience always cheered when she did this. The trainer on the platform held a microphone in one hand. In her mouth she had a whistle, like a dog whistle, which the audience could only just hear but was very loud to the dolphin.
The trainer would then point with her free hand. Daisy would wait for a moment, poised for her next move. Then, when the whistle blew, she would swim round the pool and jump over a pole which the trainer held out over the water. Daisy would then instantly return to the platform for a reward of fish.
Daisy’s routine included jumping through hoops and taking a fish from her trainer’s outstretched hand. After that Daisy would surface beside the platform with her mouth wide open.
“Like all good children Daisy has to have her teeth cleaned after a meal,” the trainer would comment as she produced a huge toothbrush and pretended to clean Daisy’s teeth.
Daisy’s next trick was to squirt water out of her mouth at the children along the edge of the pool - who always shrieked with surprise. Everyone laughed.
“Oh you naughty dolphin.” shouted the trainer. “Tell the boys and girls you are sorry.”
The trainer would then give another signal and Daisy would rear her head out of the water and squeak so that everyone could hear her. As soon as she had done that, Daisy would rush back to the platform for another fish.
“Now I want a boy or girl from the audience to volunteer to go for a ride with Daisy.”
There was never any shortage of volunteers. The trainer would then throw a small inflated boat into the pool. A child would be put into the boat. Daisy would then take the rope in her mouth and tow the boat around the pool.
At the end of the show the trainer would turn the fish bucket upside down to show the audience, and Daisy, that it was empty. When the crowd had filed out, Daisy would go back to her pen and the gate would be closed. There would be no more rewards until the next performance.
Daisy went through the same routine every day, four times a day, except on the day Dilo arrived. That was different.
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