Fin, The New Dolphin Tale

Chapter 2

I walked out of the plane and the hot humid air hit my lungs and made it hard to breathe. I kept walking though short after I felt a shove, David. "David, go play on the train tracks." I said, he rolled his eyes and smiled. That boy gets on my nerves sometimes. A six and a half plane ride was no walk in the park with this pea brained good for nothing fool. Luckily for me, I had my airpods so that drowned out his BS for some of the plane ride. I also had a dream on the plane, one that I hadn't had for a long time. I dreamt that I was swimming with Winter, and she had he tail on. That was one of the biggest dreams I had since I've seen Dolphin Tale and sadly, that dream never came true.

I caught up with mom as she was going to get our luggage. Sure enough, Aunt Ruby and the twins were in the distance. "Hey sis!" Mama greeted. "Hi Mary Ann. It's good to see you." Ruby gave mama a hug. Aunt Ruby and mom were total opposites. Aunt Ruby has red hair and dark blue eyes, mama has brunette hair and light blue eyes. "How is working at the Hospital treating you sis?" Mama asked. "It sure can get hectic, but I love making people feel better so that helps me get through the madness at time." She said pushing her loss hairs out of her face. I could tell she just got off work because she was still in her scrubs, has her hair in a messy bun, and has her name badge on. "Katie!" My little cousin yelled as she ran over to me and grabbed my leg. "Hi Ocean." I said and patted her back. Sailor was over hugging his mom's legs. Sailor and Ocean are 5-year-old fraternal twins.

Ocean has super cute red curl hair and green eyes, she looks almost exactly like her mother. Sailor had light blue eyes and light brown hair. "Sailor, say hi to your auntie and cousins." Aunt Ruby told him. "Hi." He said shyly and peek his head out behind his mother's leg. "Alright, we got all the luggage." Dad came up behind us, making me jump a little. He was with the boys and all their hands were filled with bags and suitcases. "Hi Phil." Aunt Ruby greeted. "Ruby it's great to see you again." "Ok the airport lift should be here; I can only fit two more people in the van so can the others get a ride to my house?" "Of course." Dad said. "Ok, Sarah is still a little plane sick, so I want her to ride with me. Kate, can you ride with your father and brothers in the airport lift?" Mama told me. I sighed a bit and said, "Yes ma'am."

I grabbed some of the suitcases and bags from the boys and we headed off to the lift. I put my airpods in and started to drown out the noise of the airport and tried to regroup my thoughts. I am tired and I started to think about him. As you can tell I'm trying to recover from a major breakup. I need to drown out the noise and everything going on around me. We get to the lift, and we put all of our luggage in the back. "29985 Pelican Drive, Dunedin please." My father told the driver. The driver nodded so me and the boys got in the back. I wanted to sit by Adam, but David was picking on John, so dad had David sit with me. 'If that pea brain fool has a single brain cell, he'll know better than to mess with me right now.' I thought in my head. Right after I thought that he started poking me, over and over and over again. After two minutes I asked him, "How old are you David James, 5? Our cousins act more mature than you do." "Hey why all this sass Kathrine May?" My father asked.

"David is pushing my buttons and has been for the whole trip. I've also ignored him papa, but it doesn't work with this pea brained sack of potatoes. If he has even one brain cell, he would stop poking me in about 5 seconds." I said and glared at him. "Kathrine enough with the sass and David for the last time stop picking on your sister. If you bother her again, I'll let her fight you." He said. I smirked and he quietly mocked our father. I jabbed him in his ribs, and he quickly shut up. I then looked out the window and I started to think about him again.

My mind never stops thinking no matter how bad I want it too. If it's not one thing, it's another. I missed him so much it hurts, it hurts my chest. I miss 'going to the bathroom' almost every class to see him. I miss his big bear hugs, I miss his sweet smell, I miss him watching my barrel runs, I miss him telling me I had a beautiful smile, or that I look stunning in my homecoming dress. I didn't want to cry so I texted my best friend, Davis. He lives in Oklahoma, but we see each other often because my family travels there a lot for rodeos'.

'Hey. I landed in Florida.' I texted him

'Oh no what's wrong?' He asked me

'Omg I swear you have a gift or something.'

'I just know you too well.' He told me and it made me smile

'I'm thinking about him again.' I said and sighed a bit

'That jackhole who ghosted you? Katie, he's not worth your time. I know it hurts but he's not worth your energy.' He texted me. I know he's right but it's hard not to think about him, he's like a broken record that sometimes it can't stop repeating in my mind. I sighed and responded with, 'Thank you I just need to get my head out of the past.' 'I know you will Katie, I'll she you in two weeks?' I smiled, 'See you in two weeks.' I picked up my phone and blasted Hate You Like I Love You by Granger Smith.

Before I knew it, we were at the small house. It was a beautiful small white and blue coastal house. It had a pool and river in the backyard and a small but cute front yard. "Ok, boys, help Kate get out her luggage and the rest of your mother and sister's luggage." My father said as we got out. "Where are you and the boys staying papa?" I asked. "We're staying at a motel. There's not enough for the six of us." "Ok papa, well how are you gonna get here in the morning?" I asked as I followed inside with my luggage. "Me and the boys are gonna get a rental truck in the morning. Don't worry about us Kate." There was a pause and he smiled, "Every day you remind me more and more of your mother." And that made me smile.

When I walked into the door I heard, "Katies back Katies back!" Ocean ran and hugged my leg again. "Yes I'm back Hun." I said. She tired to grab my suitcase but dropped it because it was to heavy for her. "Here..." I said. "You can carry my rope." I gave her my rope case and her eyes sparkled. She squealed and ran to a room. "Oh my goodness, that girl is in love with you." My aunt said as she came up behind me. "What do you mean?" I asked and she smiled. "I think that kid has watched almost all of your barrel runs that your mother has on tape. She wants to be just like you, but I can't make that dream come true for her yet." Her smile looked bittersweet.

Ocean came trotting back in and I smile, I had an idea. "Hey Ocean, do you want to be a cowgirl?" "Yeah!" She said, her eyes and smile were glowing. "Tell you what, if it's ok with your mother, maybe one week in the summer I can teach you how to be a cowgirl." I told her. "Will I get to ride a horsey?" She asked jumping up and down. "Absolutely." I told her and she ran and squeezed my leg. "Thank you, Cousin Katie! Thank you!" I laughed and said, "Your welcome, I'll work it out with your mama, ok?" "Ok!" She said as she let go of my leg. "Now if you wanna become a future cowgirl, you need to go to bed." "Aww!" Ocean said stomping her feet. "Come on into bed." Her mother said. "Alright." She said in defeat.

After Aunt Ruby tucked Ocean and Sailor into bed, she showed me to my room. It was super cute, It was an old rustic beach design and I had the river to look at. "Thank you." I told her. "There's a private beach whoever wants to go to tomorrow. It's for renters only and it's pretty quiet and hardly anyone goes to it. It's just down the street." She told me. I nodded. "Thank you, ma'am." "You're welcome. Goodnight Kate." "Goodnight."

Mom said goodnight and after I saw that their locations say they weren't active for 10 minutes. I decided to go outside and practice roping, so I grabbed my rope and opened the window. I don't think of this as sneaking out, I just think of this is as I need my alone time to think and practice roping. I walked down the quiet street and I looked around and saw a little path that led to the beach. The moon filled the night sky and water with a snow like color of white.

The breeze made my hair dance in the wind, I love it here. I opened my rope case and grabbed my rope. I found a piece of driftwood that was in the ground, and I decided to make that my roping dummy. I let a couple of coils out and got my loop big enough to rope the driftwood. I started swinging it around and had my pointer figure out and remember 'Swing, point, release!' I let a couple of coils out and bam, I got it. I pulled and it was clean.

Dad always wanted me to be a roper, but my passion was barrels. It's not that I'm not good at it, it's that I don't have time to rope and do barrels in rodeo. I rope for fun and do barrels in rodeo. After I roped the wood a couple more times I stopped. I hopped on some rocks since the tide wasn't strong and I sat on a big rock and watched the waves rise and fall. I loved the smell of the salty air. I had taken my boots and socks off and put my feet in the water. It was still warm, and I love it. I kick my feet back and in the warm crystal-clear water and then when I wasn't paying attention, I felt something big and slimy touch my foot.