I dug my toes in the soft white sand, remembering the screams and panic that erupted on the beach just under a year ago. I whipped the gun from my pocket and turned around when I sensed someone behind me.

 “What are you doing, Ike?” I asked. “You scared me.”

“You’re not supposed to be out here,” he muttered, “You know the rules. Never pass the line. ” 

“I wanted to remember.” I put the gun away, “before the massacre.”

Ike chuckled as he sat down on the sand next to me.  “Funny how things turn out. Who knew we’d be fighting this endless war?”

“Were you there when it happened?”

“I wasn’t,” he admitted, “But I’ve heard stories.” 

I nodded.  “Same here, but w…”

“Look!”

I turned to look and saw the glimpse of the sun disappear beneath the horizon. Dorsal fins popped from the water surface by the hundreds and slowly began to approach the shoreline. 

“We should go,” said Ike.

I nodded.  The dolphins had killed billions, perhaps in retribution for what we had done to them countless times in the past.  I did not know much, but I knew that this wasn’t war. It was extermination.

© 2009 Andrew Y. Original for CCF. Andrew Y. grants CCF first electronic rights for one month; CCF may archive the material indefinitely and include it in an eBook anthology.

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