Abilene sits on the warm sand by the ocean shore. Her brown hair glitters in the sunset. A light zephyr blows on her pale skin. Small waves lash at her, soaking her legs and clothes, but she hardly notices. Her brown eyes are fixed on the pink glow of the horizon. A pod of silver dolphins rises out of the water gaily, sending out a series of euphonious whistles and clicks…
Every day for the past three years Abilene came here running and cartwheeling in the sand. Every day Abilene would change into her swimming suit and dive into the sparkling blue ocean, the clear water flowing from the top of her head to the tip of her toes. The salty water would run into her nose and her mouth, but she wouldn’t care.  She would try to freestyle out as far out as she could, hopefully farther than before. The natural wonders of the ocean caught her curiosity for as long as she can remember.
Suddenly, the horrible memory from last week flashed into Abilene’s mind. She tries to throw it out, but that’s impossible. She was floating on the calm water. The afternoon sun gave heat to her body, while the blue water cooled her down. The usual daydreams started to flow into her head. Instead of living in an adoption center, she would have her very own mother and father, maybe even a brother or a sister. They would play board games together and go to fancy restaurants together. They would even go on many vacations together.
Abilene was so absorbed into her thoughts that she didn’t notice something slowly creep toward her. Suddenly, she felt an endurable pain in her right leg. She tried to look at her leg, but instead saw the blood-red water covering her body. She struggled with all her might to get back on shore. When she finally touched the sand, all went black.
“Abilene! Dinner time!”
Abilene reaches for her crutches. She scrapes the sticky sand away from her right leg, showing the ugly stump. Her vision started to blur, and droplets of tears ran down her face. She forces herself to get up, mustering as much effort as she can. As she hobbled back to the blue van, she took a last glimpse of the ocean. Far, far out, the dolphins again plunge out of the water in harmony. A few seconds later, a child dolphin leaps out of the water. But Abilene noticed something was unusual about the dolphin. As the last speck of sunlight shines on the dolphin, she was hit with realization. She smiles and cheers. The dolphin is steadily catching up with the rest of the pod, with its wide smile and sunny eyes.