Dolly- The Lazy Dolphin

In sunny Goa, at a place called Candolim, there lived a dolphin in the sea. She was called Dolly and she was a good-natured and friendly mammal. Her only fault was that she was exceedingly lazy! She was the laziest being you could ever see!. Life in the waters of Candolim was not too difficult, there was plenty of fish too eat and the tourists loved to pamper her because she was really a very friendly dolphin. There was nothing Dolly liked as much as floating in the warm water and sleeping.

Dolly's best human friend was a boy named Angelo, who used to work on one of the fishing boats. Angelo would swim beside her and scratch her back and feed her fish from his catch after he hauled the nets in. Angelo always used to tell Dolly that she shouldn't be so lazy.
"You spend too much time sleeping in the sea. If you don't watch out, one of these days, one of those big ships will hit you"
Dolly would scoff at this and reply, "Those big ships never come near me, besides they make so much noise and are so slow, I would be out of their way in the twinkling of an eye".
Angelo would shrug and say, "Just be careful, that's all I can say"

One day Angelo heard on the radio, that a big armada of battle ships were passing along the coast on their way to take part in a naval exercise. As he heard the news, he realised the ships were going right through the part of the sea that Dolly lived. He ran to the beach and looked for Dolly. There, he saw her, a little away in the sea, floating in the quiet waters, sleeping as usual.
He called out, "Dolly, Dolly!". But Dolly was fast asleep and didn't hear him at all. Angelo tried clapping his hands and shouting, but still Dolly wouldn't wake up. He finally dove into the water and swam near her. He pulled one of her flippers to wake Dolly up.
"Oww! What did you do that for?" Dolly exclaimed, looking petulant.
"I should be kicking you instead" Angelo replied. "Listen, you need to move away from this place for some time, there's a big armada of battle ships coming this way. They will be fast and silent and you wouldn't be able to swim out of the away. They reach today evening, go to Bambolim and stay there until all the ships have left."
"Hahaha, no ship is faster than Dolly", Dolly laughed at Angelo. "But since you are so worried I will go to Bambolim. Let me first complete my afternoon siesta, the ships will come only in the evening and there is plenty of time".
Angelo was happy that Dolly had agreed to move out of Candolim. He swam back to the beach relieved and excited. He had never seen battle ships before and he decided to come later in the evening to see them as they passed along the coast.

Angelo went back home and changed his wet clothes. He took a quick lunch and then went back to the beach. He had to repair a few nets before evening. As he neared the beach, he noticed that Dolly was still sleeping in the same place!
"This lazy bag-of-bones!" He exclaimed. He quickly swam out to the sea again and shook Dolly awake.
"Wake up, you lazy dolphin! Those ships will be here soon and if you don't move out now, they will hit you."
Dolly yawned and said, "There's plenty of time, Angelo. I haven't completed my siesta yet. I will go from here after that"
"Don’t tell me that I didn't warn you. I have to go repair my nets and will not come to wake you up again. Watch out" warned Angelo.
He then swam back to the beach and went to the store shed to repair his nets.
Meanwhile, Dolly was muttering, "That boy! He really should stop being such a busy-body. He's ruined my beauty sleep today. Battleships and armadas and what not! Anyway I have time to sleep for some more time"
She shut her eyes and promptly went back to sleep.

A little later, the battleships reached Candolim. They were blue grey in colour and quiet as a whisper and they were really really fast.
The first few had already passed, before Dolly realised that something was wrong. She woke with a start, realising that she was being thrown about by the waves. She opened her eyes and... there were dozens of ships all around her! Swift and silent they ploughed through the sea.
Dolly dived to the left and then to the right in desperation to avoid being hit. But they were just too many and they were faster than anything she had ever dodged before.
In a trice, one of the battleships hit her on the side. Dolly felt a searing pain as the ship passed. her whole left side felt like it was burning. She screamed with pain and fear. She had felt so frightened in her life.
"Oh, why didn't I listen to Angelo? Why was I so lazy?!"
But the ships were still coming and there was no time to lose. She flung herself this way and that way to avoid the ships.
Finally, it was over, the last of the ships had passed but Dolly was very weak. She had lost a lot of blood and couldn't stay afloat any more.
"Angelo", she weakly cried. "Angelo", she cried over and over again.
Angelo had been on the beach watching the battleships pass. There were so many of them, that he hadn't seen Dolly get hurt in between them. But he heard her cry as he stood there.
"Dolly's hurt!" He cried. "I must go and help her"
He swiftly took out his small fishing boat and paddled quickly out to the sea.
Dolly's voice was very faint now, but Angelo could see her, struggling to stay afloat. The left side of her body was cut badly and bleeding. He quickly paddled his boat to her side and pulled her in. The summoning all his energy he rowed back to the shore.
He left Dolly on the boat and ran to call George, who worked at the big hospital. George was his friend and loved animals. He quickly came back with Angelo to the beach and tended to Dolly's wounds. Together, Angelo and George took care of Dolly, feeding her and taking care of her wounds until they healed.
Dolly was very grateful to both of them.
"Thank you Angelo for saving my life! Thank you George!" she said.
"I will never be lazy again in my life!!"
True to her word, Dolly was never again lazy in her life.