The Adventures Of Mutt The Dog – II: The Dolphins

"Woof-woof!" barked Max at a group of seagulls who were hovering over head. "Ah, shut your bone cruncher!" the birds replied. Mutt and Shandy laughed as Max got more and more frustrated by the cheeky birds: "I’ll show you what my bone cruncher is for, feathers!!" growled Max angrily "You come down here and I’ll gnash your beak!" He ran along the water, woofing and barking and jumping up, trying in vain to catch the birds. The harder he tried the more the birds teased and the more Shandy and Mutt laughed.

After a little while, they all decided to go for a walk along the old pier. The three dogs and the little girl wandered along the wooden boardwalk as if they didn’t have a care in the world. "Oh, look!" exclaimed Shandy, pointing with her nose at an old fun fair ride. The four ran off towards the ride, with Megan running out in front. Suddenly there was a loud crack and a big splash. "Look out Megan!" shouted Mutt. The little girl looked down just in time to see the rotten, wooden boards beneath her break. Max ran towards Megan to try and catch her, but just as he got to her, she disappeared below the wooden floor. Max screeched to a halt only to find the rotten wood was too slippery and he too fell into the water below.

Mutt and Shandy looked on horrified. What had happened to their friends? Would Megan be able to swim? They knew Max was all right as he was a tremendous swimmer and loved the water. Carefully, the two daschunds stepped toward the hole and looked down. Below they could see Max swimming hard against the tide. In his mouth was Megan’s’ T-shirt. The little girl was holding onto the black dog’s neck for all she was worth. "Try to get towards the shore!" shouted Mutt, but Max was struggling against the strong water and was being washed out to sea. "What do we do now?" said Mutt. Shandy thought for a minute and then said, "Follow me!" The two little dogs ran off back towards the land.

In the water Max was getting worried. He was a strong dog, but no matter how hard he swam, he couldn’t get closer to the land and he knew Megan was too small to swim for herself. Bravely he kept going but they were getting farther and farther and farther away from the land. In just a few minutes, he could barely see the pier. His strength was fading fast and he couldn’t hold on to Megan much longer. The little girl was kicking for all she was worth, but it didn’t help at all. They started dipping under the water. At first it was just a little, but before long they got really wet. Max’s black fur was so wet that it was weighing him down. Just as he thought he was about to drown, there was a huge wash of water and the pair were thrown over and into the air…

Back on the land, Mutt and Shandy had found a little rowing boat. The two dogs cast themselves off in it and both hung their tails over the back to act like oars. "Think about nice bones and chocolate chews!" Mutt said to Shandy. As they started thinking, so their tails started to wag hard. Gradually, bit by little bit, the movement of their tails caused the boat to move. *bones and chews and choccy drops * The dogs were chanting to encourage each other: * balls and sticks and squeaky toys * They wagged furiously and before long they could see Max and Megan fighting against the tide. "There they are!!" shouted Mutt excitedly. * bones and chews and choccy drops. Balls and sticks and squeaky toys * Just as they started to get close, there was a huge wave from behind Max and a creature reared out of the water towards the big black dog….

Max felt himself going under the water. Megan had slipped from his mouth. He twisted in the water, frantically trying to get up to the surface. As he twisted, something grey moved under him and lifted him out of the waters cover. Max looked down to see a pair of friendly eyes below him. "What’s happening?" spluttered the dog. "We saw you were in trouble and came to help!" said the eyes. "Who are you? What are you?" cried Max "and where’s my friend Megan?" "My name is Delphi and I am a dolphin. Don’t worry about your friend, my brother Defin has her over there." Delphi motioned his nose towards the right of Max and sure enough, there was Megan riding on the back of another big grey fish. The two dolphins moved closer together and Max could see that Megan had a huge grin on her face. The little girl was loving every minute as they sped through the waves; diving and jumping, weaving and spinning. She was holding onto the kindly Defin with all her strength.

Mutt and Shandy had caught up with the two dolphins, and couldn’t believe their eyes. There was this huge, black dog and a tiny human girl sat on these two fabulous fish. The dolphins heard Mutt barking and pulled up alongside. "Are you alright?" Mutt asked Max. "Yes, we’re fine." Max reassured Mutt. He introduced the dolphins to his friends. "We’d like to take Max and Megan to the underwater city." Delphi told Mutt. "Surely they can’t go underwater – they will drown!" replied Mutt. "Oh no, not with us. We are protected by the magic of our friends the Mermaids. Anyone with us is also protected. Why don’t you come as well? I can carry more than one." Said Delphi. Mutt and Shandy looked at each other. "We have to get this boat back to land!" shouted Shandy. "Don’t worry, one of our friends will do that for you!" Defin reassured the daschunds. "Well, in that case, we’d love to!" said Mutt.

The two little dogs got on the dolphins backs: Megan and Mutt with Defin and Max and Shandy with Delphi. The dolpins plunged beneath the waves and very quickly the chaos of the surface gave way to the calm tranquility of the undersea world. As they swam downwards, so the light dimmed and a new light came from the plants around them. Scholl’s of fish in many bright colours swam all around them. Jellyfish and seahorses floated quietly past and seaweed drifted away from them. In a few moments, they came to a large wall with and opening in it. The dolphins passed through one at a time. Inside they could see a vast city laid out in front of them. "This is our home!" said Delphi. They swam towards the streets and saw more and more dolphins around them. All the new dolphins were very friendly: "Hello." They would say. "How are you?" Said one. "Nice to see some new faces!" said another. Megan was giggling as Defin swooped and spun playfully in and out of the streets, around other dolphins and into buildings. Finally, they reached the end of the main street. There was a huge building ahead.

"That’s where the dolphin king lives. I’m sure he’d like to meet you!" said Defin. "Well, of course he would want to meet a dog of my stature!" Said Shandy. "Hmm!" Mutt growled "We’d love to meet him too Defin!" The two fish swished their tails and they entered the building. Inside were large columns and big tanks of planckton waiting to be eaten. At the end of the room was a rock with a large blue dolphin on it. They approached in a respectful manner and stopped just in front of the King. "Welcome, welcome my friends!" boomed the loud voice of the King. "I am Dalphine, king of the dolphins. I am pleased to see that Delphi and Defin have saved you and brought you here to meet us."

"Thank you, your fishness!" stammered Max. "We are forever grateful to you all for helping us."

"You are welcome Max!" laughed the King. He laughed again at their shocked faces. "Yes, I know all your names. Us dolphins can talk in many ways and I knew who you were long before you arrived. Now, let us have a feast before you return to the land!"

The king squealed a noise and twenty other dolphins appeared with a range of seaweeds and other yummy foods. The four friends sat around the big round rock with their new companions and they all enjoyed a much needed meal. When they had all eaten, the king thanked them for coming and wished them all a safe life on the land. With a swish of their tails, Delphi and Defin had the friends out of the room and heading rapidly towards the surface. When they broke water, the four were relieved to see they were nearly at land. The dolphins went right up to the edge and the four got off their backs. "Goodbye and take care!" Shouted Delphi as the two dolphins headed back out to sea. "Goodbye. Thank you for saving us!" shouted Max just as the two fish disappeared below the water again.

Max shook hard, covering the three in water. "Right, " he said "who fancies a choccy ice cream?" The others shouted in delight and Max scooped little Megan onto his back. "Come on then!" The three dogs trotted off laughing and talking about their amazing day.

THE END.