Dolphin Tale 6

Epilogue

E p i l o g u e

* * * Three months later * * *

"And that concludes today's meeting. There'll be one tomorrow morning at seven to finalise the design so that it can be sent to the building company for their approval. Once that's done, the construction will commence within the month and it's expected that the aquarium will be completed within the year - possibly even longer."

Everyone shuffled their papers into reasonably neat piles and closed their files as Philip wrapped the meeting up. For the past couple of months, meetings had been held almost every single day of every single week in order to get the construction of the new aquarium underway as soon as possible. It had been strenuous and rather tiresome, listening to the same lecture with slight alterations at every meeting, but everyone knew that it was necessary.

One by one, those who were gathered at the meeting stood, bade farewell, and left Philip's office until only Dr. Clay remained.

"You may leave, Clay," Philip said, staring at his business associate.

Dr. Clay nodded, his gaze drawn to the screen on which an image was projected. It was the hypothetical image of what the new dolphin exhibit would look like, drawn up by a collaboration between experienced graphic designers and architectural experts.

Philip followed Dr. Clay's gaze, smiling when he saw what he was staring at. "It's amazing, isn't it? To see your dream become a reality."

"Almost a reality," Dr. Clay corrected. "I just can't believe that this is really happening. I mean, after everything we've been through, I just can't believe that something good is coming out of all this. I was starting to think that my life would be shrouded by suffocating darkness and bitter anguish forever."

"And yet, without darkness, when would you be able to see the stars? Without darkness, what is the meaning and significance of light?" Philip said, a soft smile playing on his lips, his eyebrows raised in a questioning manner. "Sometimes, we need darkness in order to fully appreciate the light."

Dr. Clay laughed. "When did you get so philosophical?"

Philip shrugged, ever-so-slightly embarrassed. "It's a new talent of mine," he said, grinning, placing a hand on Clay's shoulder. "Now, get out of here. I've got work to do and you're distracting me."

Clay stood and turned to shake Philip's hand. "Always a pleasure to do business with you," he said, a warm, genuine smile lighting up his facial features.

"Same to you, too," Philip said. He shook his outstretched hand before drawing away and waving him out of the office. Once Dr. Clay was gone, he settled back down into his chair, smiling contently. Things were definitely going a lot smoother than he had initially expected.

* * *

In the week leading up to the demolition of the aquarium, both Hazel and Sawyer had been quite active, always helping out whenever they were required to, and even when they weren't. They took it as their responsibility to help out wherever they could in the last couple of days, and with their combined effort, as well as the work everyone around them did, things went very smoothly and according to plan.

They had both come to the mutual agreement that seeing to the animals' needs while they were being transported was their first priority. After the animals had been removed and transported to the truck, Hazel and Sawyer had taken it upon themselves to see that they were comfortable and at ease for the journey to their new temporary homes. Occasionally, they'd travel with the animals, as was the case with Winter and Hope.