“Hi, I’m Dory,” the five-year-old blue tang fish said brightly. “I suffer from short-term memory loss.”
Dory’s giant eyes slowly blinked as she floated, waiting for a response. Her parents, Jenny and Charlie, clapped their fins with delight.
“Yes!” Jenny cheered.
“That’s exactly what you say,” said Charlie proudly.
Dory let out a happy sigh of relief. Remembering things was very hard for the energetic little fish, so her parents often asked her to practice introducing herself.
The family lived in a charming coral home nestled safely behind a tall patch of sea grass. As the water’s current moved, the sea grass waved gracefully.
“Okay, we’ll pretend to be the other kids now,” said Jenny. She and Charlie each took a deep breath as they attempted to get into character. “Hi, Dory,” her mom said in a small voice.
“Ahoy there!” said Charlie in his best five-year-old voice. The sound of her parents pretending to be little fish made Dory giggle.
“Do you want to play hide-and-seek?” asked Charlie.
“Okay!” said Dory, tickled.
“We’ll hide, and you count and come find us,” said Charlie.
“I’m hiding!” Jenny sang out from behind the sea grass.
Charlie turned to face his daughter. “Now count to ten,” he said.
Dory placed her fins over her eyes and began to count while her father swam away. “One, two, three, um ... four ... um ...” But that was as far as she got. Dory uncovered her eyes and looked around. She blinked and looked down, then rubbed her fins over the soft sand. She had already forgotten about the game.
“I like sand. Sand is squishy,” she said, completely distracted by the sand.
Just then, Dory heard the sounds of children giggling in the distance. She peeked through the tall grass and saw a large school of young blue tangs playing together, swirling around like a ribbon and having a great time. Dory swam toward them. She wanted to play, too! But her parents quickly came out of their hiding places and stopped her before she could join.
“Okay!” said Charlie. “Hide-and-seek might be a little advanced for right now.”
Dory drew in a quick breath. “Mommy, can I go play with them?” she asked.
“Another time, honey,” said Jenny gently. “Not until you’re ready.”
Dory saw her parents exchange a strained look that made her feel terrible. She never meant to disappoint them ... but it just kept happening. “Did I forget again?” she asked sheepishly.
“No biggie, kelpcake,” said Charlie, trying to lighten the mood by calling Dory one of her many nicknames.
“Oh, sweetie, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it,” said Jenny.
“What if I forget you?” asked Dory fearfully. Then she gasped. “Would you ever forget me?”
“Oh, kelpcake, no,” said Charlie.
“We will never forget you, Dory,” added Jenny. “And we know you’ll never forget us.”
Dory smiled up at her parents as they both hugged her tightly.
“嗨,我是多莉,”這條五歲的藍(lán)唐王魚歡快地說道,“我有短時(shí)記憶喪失癥。”
多莉漂浮著,等待著回應(yīng),一雙大眼睛緩緩地眨了眨。她的父母,珍妮和查理,高興地拍打著魚鰭。
“沒錯(cuò)!”珍妮喝彩道。
“就是要這樣說。”查理驕傲地說。
多莉開心地舒了口氣。這條精力充沛的小魚總是很難記住事情,所以她的父母經(jīng)常讓她練習(xí)自我介紹。
這一家子住在一間迷人的珊瑚屋里,屋前有一簇高茂的海草,非常安全。海水流動(dòng),海草也隨之輕盈搖擺。
“好的,現(xiàn)在我們要假扮其他孩子了。”珍妮說。她和查理各自深吸了一口氣,嘗試著進(jìn)入角色。“嗨,多莉。”她的媽媽細(xì)聲細(xì)氣地說道。
“喂!”查理竭力地裝出五歲孩童的聲音。父母?jìng)z那假裝魚娃娃的聲音逗得多莉咯咯直笑。
“你想玩捉迷藏嗎?”查理問。
“好?。?rdquo;多莉說著,樂不可支。
“我們來藏,你數(shù)數(shù),然后來找我們。”查理說。
“我藏好了!”珍妮在海草叢后喊道。
查理轉(zhuǎn)向女兒。“現(xiàn)在數(shù)到十,”他說。
當(dāng)父親游向別處時(shí),多莉用魚鰭捂住雙眼,數(shù)起數(shù)來。“一,二,三,嗯……四……嗯……”但是她也只能數(shù)到這兒。多莉露出眼睛,四處望了望。她眨眨眼,向下一看,然后在松軟的沙地上擦了擦雙鰭。她已經(jīng)把游戲的事情忘得一干 二凈。
“我喜歡沙子。沙子軟綿綿的。”她說,完全被沙子分散了注意力。
就在這時(shí),多莉聽到遠(yuǎn)方傳來孩子們的歡笑聲。她透過高高的草叢,瞥見一大群小藍(lán)唐王魚正在一起玩耍,像綢帶似的彎曲盤旋,玩得好不開心。多莉游向他們。她也想去玩!可她的父母很快從藏身的地方?jīng)_了出來,攔著不讓她去。
“好吧!”查理說,“捉迷藏現(xiàn)在可能還是有點(diǎn)難度。”
多莉急忙深吸了口氣。“媽咪,我能和他們一起玩嗎?”她問道。
“下次吧,寶貝,”珍妮溫柔地說,“現(xiàn)在你還不行。”
多莉看見她的父母緊張地交換了一下眼色,這讓她感覺很糟。她從沒想要讓他們失望……可這事總是發(fā)生。“我是不是又忘事了?”她怯怯地問道。
“沒什么大不了的,小寶貝。”查理說,叫著多莉眾多昵稱中的一個(gè),努力緩解氣氛。
“噢,親愛的,沒什么。別擔(dān)心。”珍妮說。
“萬一我不記得你們了怎么辦?”多莉恐懼地問道。接著她倒抽了口氣:“你們有時(shí)也會(huì)忘記我嗎?”
“哦,小寶貝,不會(huì)的。”查理說。
“我們決不會(huì)忘記你的,多莉,”珍妮補(bǔ)充道,“我們還知道你永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)忘記我們。”
多莉的父母緊緊地?fù)肀е?,她抬頭對(duì)著他們微笑著。