Yesteryear Fiction

A New Age Water Birth off the Hawaiian Islands
By Jimmy Calabrese


Ever since his childhood in Florida, Brad had communicated telepathically with dolphins. Recently, they had offered to help with the birth of his son in the Pacific Ocean. They spoke of strengthening the baby's aura, turning him into a spiritual leader. They lied.

Brad punched the dolphin's snout, then tried to swim back to his wife Fiona, but found his foot in the dolphin's mouth as it dragged him back underwater. Frantic, repeated kicks to the blowhole led to his liberation, and Brad resurfaced, searching for Fiona.

He found her floating a few feet away, miraculously untouched, but she struggled to stay above water while the baby crowned.

"Don't push," Brad yelled, "Take deep breaths!"

Grabbing Fiona's ponytail between his teeth he began to swim, ignoring her tortured screams, focusing solely on the shore.

Brad's foot landed on something solid. The shore still in the distance meant this must be a sandbar. He gasped a breath of relief, then tried to stand, only to have the earth slide away as Brad realized he stood on a small dolphin. Releasing his wife's hair, he dove after the creature. It had been the size of his forearm, probably a baby, but Brad didn't care, jamming his thumbs into its eyes. Blinded, the dolphin swam off in a zig zag pattern into the dark waters.

Upon returning to the surface, he heard women on the beach yelling. Brad waved for help, but they only pointed to the danger behind him. A tropical cyclone raged in the distance as rain began pelting him.

"Baby! The baby!" Fiona screamed.

The water flooded with a bloody mess as the child slid from his mother. Bubbles disturbed the water nearby, and Brad watched in slow motion as an enormous dolphin jumped out of the water, opening its mouth, baring two dozen conical teeth.

"I'll devour your son," the dolphin said telepathically to Brad. "His power shall be mine!"

The dolphin headed straight for the baby on its decent. But before the dolphin engulfed the baby, four men in a wooden canoe pulled him and his mother from the water. Brad hooked onto the pectoral fins of the dolphin as it splashed back under the water.

Jabbing a thumb into the blowhole, Brad locked onto the dolphin as they submerged deeper into the stormy waters.

"You think you can beat me?" The dolphin said, "You are in my kingdom now!"

The cyclone moved closer to the island causing a tidal surge which swelled into a ten foot high wave. Brad and the dolphin were caught in the surge, spinning in circles toward the coastline.

When the waters receded they still struggled with each other, but once Brad realized they were on land he let go of the dolphin. Standing mere inches away, he watched the creature writhe as it struggled to return to the ocean.

In the distance, on higher ground, Fiona nursed the newborn as the islanders celebrated the arrival of the new Kahuna.


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Jimmy Calabrese is a singer, songwriter and bass player for the horror rock band CALABRESE. His stories have appeared on Microhorror, Flashes in the Dark, Thrillers, Killers 'n' Chillers, The Flash Fiction Offensive, Everday Weirdness, The Short Humour Site, Death Head Grin, The New Flesh, Flashshot, Postcard Shorts, and in the Toe Tags Horror Anthology. Visit the band's website at www.CalabreseRock.com