Zoe and the Dolphin - A Short Children's Story

 

 

 

 

ZOE AND THE DOLPHIN
A SHORT CHILDREN’S STORY
JEAN DANIEL
COPYRIGHT 2026
All Rights Reserved.

 


ZOE AND THE DOLPHIN

Zoe was a princess, daughter of the king on the island of Crete, and therefore, could have anything she wanted, just by asking.

If she wanted a dress with a gold-threaded skirt, and ruffles deep as river rapids, it was woven for her.

If she wished for a cluster of lilac colored dittany flowers from the eastern hillsides, they were fetched for her, right away. No matter if she wanted something that belonged to someone else - if Zoe wanted it, it was hers.

She was the only child of the young king Lycus, and his lovely wife, Gida, living with them in a palace; a maze of blue and white and bright red rooms, the walls brimming with life-like paintings of bulls and birds and smiling, dancing dolphins.

Zoe loved the dolphins. She often imagined herself swimming with them through the cool, salty waters of The Great Green Sea. She had seen real ones, while on long trips around the shores of the island. It made her happy to watch their heads bobbing up over the twinkling waves, their grinning eyes seeming to wink at her, calling her to come join in their fun.

She could not go to the dolphins; she was afraid, with good reason, to go near the uncertain shore. But what if - what if the dolphins could come to her?

Breakfast was usually a quiet time for King Lycus, as he relaxed on a stone porch held up by fire-red columns, munching on grapes and goat cheese, and talking to Gida and Zoe. For once, Zoe did not seem to want anything, but was cheerful, and pleased with her father's new white robe and copper-colored belt, and her mother's blue, ruffled dress and plate-shaped bonnet.

Zoe finished her third slice of honeyed bread, washed her fingers and dried them, then stood to stroke her father' s long, black, braided hair.

"Father," she started.

And he nodded his head. "I should have known. What do you want, my Zoe?"

"A dolphin."

"What?" her mother gasped. "Now, Zoe, your father is a king, and wealthy, but even he cannot bring you such a thing as this! Dolphins are fast, and clever. No one could catch one. And, just what would you do, if you did have a dolphin?"

"But I want one, Mother. Isn't my asking for it enough? I always get what I want, when I ask for it."

"True, my Zoe,” her father said with a frown. "I will send out my ships this very day, and offer a reward to whoever may capture a dolphin, a living dolphin, for the princess."

The fleet of royal ships was spread across the Great Green Sea, searching all that day for a dolphin. A crowd of people gathered by the shore, waiting to see what happened and having a merry time as they did so. 

Zoe was in the center of the party, laughing and playing with her cousins, making pictures in the sand, and feasting on roast mutton and spiced bread and wonderful grape pies and fig cakes. Everyone in the villages, and the cities, too, had come to share their food and good fortune with the princess - and all because she had wanted a dolphin.

At last, a ship returned, with a precious cargo. The people closed in, to welcome the ship, and to watch as King Lycus rewarded the captain and crew with ten sacks of grain each, a nice sum in those times, when food was used as payment for almost everything.

Zoe led the crowd towards the ship, everyone excited to see a real dolphin so close. The poor, frightened creature lay in a trough full of sea water, thrashing back and forth, trying to escape. Some of the people moaned, sad for him, but Zoe was happy - her prize before her, like a painting from the palace walls, come alive.

"What shall we do with it, sire?" the captain asked the king.

"My Zoe, what shall we do?"

"Oh, well, I hadn't thought about that, but I suppose he'll have to have a pond of some sort."

"A pond, my Zoe?"

"Well, a pool, then. The one in the palace courtyard would do. Empty it of rain water, and fill it with brine, and put him in it. And mind you, put plenty of fish in it. He looks hungry."

The captain looked at the king, who nodded, still frowning. So, the palace pool was emptied, slowly, but finally done, then a line of people carrying pails of sea water inched its way to the palace, followed by a row of men, bearing the helpless dolphin in his trough.

Once the pool was filled with brine and fish, the dolphin was eased down into it. He was still for a moment, everyone held their breath. Then, he wiggled his tail, and began to swim round and round, flashing like lightning through the deep blue water. There was a swell of laughter, and the clapping of hands.

"Oh, he's beautiful!" Zoe exclaimed, and everyone agreed with her.

That night, a grand feast was held, with music and dancing, and story-telling. Zoe sat proudly at the king's table; too excited to think of eating. It was wonderful, to see everyone so light-hearted and smiling. The dolphin was truly a magical creature, to have brought such happiness to the people of Crete.

For days after, visitors came to see Zoe and her dolphin. People from strange lands across the sea, in the city to trade their wares, brought gifts for the princess: silks and linens and jewels, spread out before her, all in honor of her beautiful dolphin.

At night, Zoe could not sleep without first saying goodnight to her dolphin. She would slip out of her room and creep through the halls to the pool outside, and sit on the edge, just watching by moonlight as the dolphin restlessly swept in and up, in and up, never resting, or eating, it seemed - there were too many fish left in the pool.

Zoe stood and looked down through the water, dull water, now. Perhaps he needed fresh sea water to stir his appetite.

The next day, the whole ritual was repeated: the pool emptied out, and refilled, while the dolphin flapped about in the trough.

"There now," Zoe said, once it was done. "You'll be fine, and hungry, this day.
But the dolphin did not eat. Not that day, or the next.

"Perhaps the fish are not fresh enough," Zoe decided.

And the fish were replaced with a new catch. Still, the dolphin would not eat. Zoe could not understand him and it made her sad. She sat down by the pool and cried.

"Princess, why do you cry?"

Zoe looked up through a veil of tears. The dolphin had raised his head above the water, and was smiling kindly at her.

"Did you speak to me? Oh, but you couldn't have!"

"And why not? Someone has to. I am getting weaker. I am proud, and don't like asking for help, but I will die if I don't eat soon."

"But why do you go hungry, when there are so many fish in the pool?"

"Can't you guess? Think a moment. What if you were happily playing in the courtyard, when, suddenly, someone grabbed you up and put you in a cage, to be stared and laughed at - would you be hungry, or happy, ever again?"

"No. I see what you mean, and I am sorry. You must go home, to the sea, right away. Forgive me, I never meant to do you harm."

"You people, you never mean to harm anything, and still you do. You always do."
The dolphin flipped over, splashing Zoe's face. The cold water startled her; she had been asleep. She had only dreamed of talking to the dolphin. She looked at him now; he was swimming slowly, quietly. He seemed so alone.

"I must get help. I will make you happy again, I promise. I was wrong to be so selfish, but I won't let you die because of it!"

"No, my Zoe, we won't."

Her father stepped out of the shadows, smiling.

"Your good heart has finally shown itself. And I am glad to see it."

Sleepy villagers were rousted from their beds. They loaded the dolphin very carefully into the trough, and carried him gently to the seashore.

Zoe watched sadly as the dolphin was placed in the water. He did not stay for goodbyes, but kicked up the surf, and headed out to sea.

"I don't blame you for hurrying away," Zoe sighed. "Escape then, and be free. I will be content to see you swimming out there, where you belong, as long as you're happy."

"And what would make you happy now, my Zoe?" her father asked, hugging her. 

"You know you can have anything you want."

"No, Father. No more. I must not be selfish, and ask for things I do not need. It was wrong of me to keep asking."

"And wrong of me to give so easily."

"We have a lot to learn, don't we, Father?"

"Yes, my Zoe, we do."

Zoe kissed his cheek and followed his lead back to the palace. The sky above them was glowing with amber in the shower of sunrise.

Once inside, Zoe stopped in the room where the smiling dolphins danced on the walls and looked at them.

"I’ll bet he's hungry now," she grinned, and off she went to bed.

THE END