英语小说网

Hank held Dory in a clear plastic cup of water and used a large yellow caution: wet floor sandwich board sign to hide them as he snuck across the room. Sigourney Weaver's voice continued to speak to the tourists in the Open Ocean exhibit. "Now come with us as we explore the mysterious world of the Open Ocean."

Dory gawked at the exhibit anxiously. "Mom and Dad," she whispered. "They're actually in there."

"Don't celebrate yet," said Hank. "We still have to get you inside that thing."

When it was safe, Hank slithered out of the sandwich board sign and quickly camouflaged as a continent on a giant globe in the center of the room. Then he carefully inched closer to the exhibit. As they neared it, Dory started to worry about meeting her parents. "What do I say to them? I should introduce myself, probably. 'Hi! I'm Dory.'"

Hank jumped up to some banners and swung himself toward a blue whale skeleton. He did a double take when he saw a display that read did you know the octopus has three hearts? Hank put it out of his mind and clung to the ribs of the whale skeleton as he swung into the exhibit.

Dory continued to worry. "I mean, we have so much to catch up on. Not that I remember any of it or anything that we did together… What do you think I should say when I meet them? What if they don't recognize me?" she asked nervously.

Dory continued to ramble as they landed on the Institute's upper scaffolding. Hank ducked out of view to avoid being seen by a passing staffer. Once the coast was clear, he peered over the upper platform to the Open Ocean aquarium and lowered himself toward the water.

Hank grabbed on to a rope that dangled from the ceiling lights, causing a spotlight to swivel over the crowd. One man in the crowd looked up, but Hank flashed the light into eyes, and he quickly covered his face. Hank managed to stay hidden.

"Wait, I had something for you," said Dory.

"Well, looks like this is it, kid. Now I got a truck to catch," said Hank.

"Oh, I should have brought a gift. We just passed a gift shop," Dory said, turning her head toward the store. "Dang it. Why didn't I think of that before?"

"They're actually down there, aren't they?" Dory mused. "I hope I can find them."

Hank watched as Dory thought with a blank stare. Hank smiled. "Tag," he said patiently.

"The tag. Right." Dory took it off and handed it to him. Then she looked at him, a little sad. "You know, I think I'm going to remember you," she said sincerely.

"Ah, you'll forget me in a heartbeat, kid," Hank said with a chuckle. "Three heartbeats." He paused for a moment. "I'll have a hard time forgetting you, though."

Dory looked down at the huge tank of thousands of fish and took a deep breath. She was nervous about trying to find her parents without any help.

"Knowing you, I'm liking your chances," said Hank. "Now go find your family." Then he gently dropped her into the tank.

Dory's heart raced as she looked around the enormous aquarium. Large schools of fish circled, swimming in the same direction. She swam into the rapidly moving crowd and approached some of the passing fish. She asked again and again if they had seen her parents, but none of them were able to offer any clues.

Discouraged, she watched a stream of small fish swirl around her and swim downward. Her big eyes rested on the Open Ocean floor, where she saw something familiar hidden in the sand: a trail of shells. She gasped and swam down to take a closer look. "Shells…," she said, remembering.

FLASH! Another memory came to her. But this time it was different. It was as clear as day -- she was actually floating right there, where the memory had occurred! As it unfolded in her mind, it seemed to happen all around her. It was as if ghosts of her younger self, Jenny, and Charlie were there with her, playing out the scene. She could see her parents placing shells down in the sand, in a long line right over there. Dory watched, mesmerized. It was like reliving the past.

Awestruck, Dory swam behind the ghost images as they followed the shells. The trail led through the coral, winding through it until -- Dory spotted a wall of sea grass that she instantly recognized, and the ghosts quickly faded into the background. "My home," she said. "THAT'S MY HOME!" She rushed toward it with anticipation. She felt she was just a moment away from finding her parents. "MOM! DAD!" she called. "I'm home!"

"Now, if you ever get lost, Dory," Charlie said.

"You just… follow the shells," said Jenny.

"Hey, look! Shells!" said little Dory, noticing the shells.

"Mommy look, purple shells!" said young Dory happily. Jenny and Charlie stopped her just before she reached the shell.

"Sweetie!" said Jenny. "Undertow! Undertow. You have to stay away from the undertow. Right, Charlie?"

As Dory looked at her childhood surroundings, every view triggered another memory. As she came upon the front yard, the ghosts appeared. She watched young Dory and her parents having fun playing hide-and-seek. When Dory looked up at her tube-coral bedroom, she could see little Dory speaking whale through a vent.

Young Dory looked past the shell down a sandy slope, and a strong current rushed past, tugging and bending the sea grass.

"This is very, very important, Dory," said Charlie. "We see the undertow and we say…" Her parents watched as they waited for a response, but little Dory didn't seem to understand.

But once the memory ghosts faded, Dory looked around, confused and worried as a terrible thought entered her mind. Where were her parents? She swam through the opening in the grass fence, calling out their names. Then she spotted a purple shell in the sand, and another vivid memory overtook her. Dory watched as the ghosts appeared and played out the scene.

As the ghost memory faded, Dory swam toward the purple shell, remembering. "The undertow," she said quietly.

As she swam over to an outflow pipe, another memory was unlocked and the ghosts returned once more.

She saw her younger self singing softly in bed and stopping at the sound of her mother crying.

"Oh, honey. It'll be okay," said Charlie.

"Mommy?" little Dory said with concern as she swam over and peeked into her parents' bedroom.

In the bedroom, Jenny was crying and Charlie was trying to calm her. Even though Dory was perfectly safe, for now, Jenny couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen. They had no idea that little Dory was awake and listening in on their conversation. "What's going to happen to her?" Jenny asked through her sobs. "Do you think she can make it on her own, Charlie?"

Little Dory looked around desperately, searching for a way to make things better. She didn't want her mother to be sad! She spotted a purple shell off in the distance and raced toward it. "Mommy loves purple shells," little Dory whispered.

"Where's your tag?" a crab named Carol asked sharply, snapping Dory into the present moment.

As she tried to pick up the shell, she heard her parents screaming her name in panicked voices. Little Dory turned to see their fearful faces a moment before the tug of the undertow pulled at her and sucked her into a cave! She screamed for them, but in an instant, the current carried her through the darkness of the cave and out to the other side. Little Dory found herself swimming in the big blue ocean, all alone.

Dory had tears in her eyes when the memory ended and the ghosts faded away for the last time. She couldn't believe it -- she had remembered everything. And now she knew how she had gotten separated from her parents. She looked around, panicked. "It was my fault," she said, pained. "My parents… I lost them."

"Yeah. That's where they took all the blue tangs. Isn't that right, Bill?" the crab called back to her husband, who was trimming grass with his claws.

"Huh?" Dory asked.

Dory looked at her fin, where the tag used to be. "Quarantine?"

"Your tag? It's missing. That's why you're not in Quarantine?" prodded Carol.

"Yep. Being shipped on a truck to Cleveland at the crack o' dawn," said Bill.

"You're not helping, Bill," Carol said. Then she turned to Dory. "Just go in there if you want to. You'll be fine."

Dory turned and looked at the outflow pipe with dread. "Oh, I can't do that."

"I'll forget where I'm going, and I, and I -- can't be some place where I have nobody to help me."

"What? No!" said Dory, panicking. "No, my parents are back in Quarantine? They're being shipped to Cleveland? But I just got here!"

"Well, then, I guess you're stuck here," said Bill bluntly.

Carol was confused. "Why not?"

"Sure, honey. It's two lefts and a right. Simple."

Dory frowned, looking nervously at the pipe. "Could you, uh, could you tell me how to get there? Through the pipes?"

"Oh, it's easy to get to Quarantine. You just go through the pipes, honey," said Carol.

As Carol rushed off, Dory patted her fins against her head, trying to plant the directions firmly in her mind. "Okay, two lefts and a right… I can do this. Two lefts and a right." Floating by the mouth of the first pipe, she closed her eyes tightly as she repeated, "Two lefts and a right" over and over again, trying to find the strength to begin.

Determined, Dory took another deep breath and squeezed through the pipe, chanting to herself. "Two lefts and a right. Two lefts and a right." She continued to repeat those words as she ventured alone into the darkness.