CHAPTER 1:

THE ADVENTURES OF A DOLPHIN

DURING HIS JOURNEY FROM RETHYMNO TO SICILY

 The sun is rising in the blue sky and the sunrays are reflecting on the crystal clear waters of Rethymno. Another day starts.

At the dolphin school the History lesson has just finished and the dolphins are getting ready for the break, jumping in the air and looking at Rethymno from far away. They feel proud of their origin.

Their dolphin teacher taught them that in ancient times their dolphin ancestors had accompanied the Greek ships to South Italy and Sicily. The Greeks had travelled there in order to find a better life and they had created a great civilization. Since then, the dolphins organise a celebration “The Dolphin Games” which take place every seven years. A young dolphin has to manage to swim to Sicily.

Arion, a young dolphin, doesn’t play with the other dolphins.

-  What’s the matter Arion? Why don’t you play with us?

 -  I want to take part in “The Dolphin Games”. I want to explore the Mediterranean Sea.

 - Aren’t you happy here? Rethymno has loved us; the symbol of the city is the dolphin. So why do you want to leave? You are too young for this deed and it is very dangerous.

-  Because just living is not enough. You must feel free and see new places. I have made up my mind. I am going to go far away.

So his parents helped him get ready for the trip and gave him advice.

His grandfather and his father narrated stories about their own adventures. His grandmother cooked fish a la crème.

Following the map that his grandfather gave him, he sets off for his long journey, flipping his triangular tail fin which looks so shiny under the orange and yellow sun and the waters falling onto it. Heading towards the Ionian Sea, he meets whales, calamari and octopuses. The little fish swim carelessly in the sea with the starfish and the seahorses.

The waters become blue and green as he reaches the amazing caves of Zakynthos (Zante). The little dolphin had never seen such a beautiful sea before.

Suddenly he hears a scream coming from the sea calling for “HELP”.

Arion feels worried and swims over there to see at his great surprise a little caretta - caretta turtle caught in the fishermen nets, being in great danger. “Oh! Why are people so careless?” he wondered as he came near it. 

- Help me my little dolphin! I can’t set myself free, she shouted.

 - Don’t be afraid! I will try to save you.

He flips his tail up and down but in vain. He needs to use his teeth. Finally he manages to set the turtle free, since dolphins are said to be the most intelligent animals of the sea.

- Thank you! You saved my life! Come to meet my family and my friends.

- Thanks but I have to continue my journey, he replies and explains to her where he is heading to.

Further away, a small island which looks like paradise appears. It is Ithaka, Odysseus’ island. How right he was that he wanted to return back home!

Suddenly the sky turns black, clouds gather above him and after a clap of thunder a terrible storm starts which forces the dolphin to dive at the bottom of the sea. It gets covered by the sea weeds and the dark sand. The strong waves hit its body. Arion feels scared. The sea is his home but now he is all alone without his family and his friends and he is very afraid. Now he realizes that his journey is dangerous. Maybe it wasn’t wise to leave?

After a lot of hours the exhausted dolphin blinks its eyes. Everything looks blurred and the fish help it come around. When the dizzy dolphin regains consciousness the fish stand on it and accompany it to the surface of the sea.

The clouds have disappeared and the sky is not angry any more. The sun is golden now. Arion swims with the colourful little fish. There is no fear in its heart anymore, it has beaten it. He is breathing the air of freedom.

He sees a beautiful island far away which seems like a mermaid. Happy voices of other dolphins are heard in the sea.

An old dolphin that looks very wise comes closer.

- Congratulations! You have reached Sicily. You are the dolphin that took part in “the Dolphin Games”, aren’t you? What’s your name?

- My name is Arion. I wanted to make my dream come true and travel in the Mediterranean Sea.

- That’s right!, answers the wise dolphin. We spend half of our life to make dreams and the rest of it we cancel them. We must fulfill at least one of them.

The celebration that starts is unique! Everybody drinks fish juice and fish sticks. Perhaps they are also singing because there is a sound like music coming from the sea.

Chapter 2:

THE DOLPHIN discovers in Sicily, the power of the volcano.

A beautiful sunny morning, the dolphin Arion playing in the Mediterranean Sea making big jumps.

Between a jump and the next, he saw a tall and strange mountain, from which came a red liquid.

Since it was very curious approached for a closer look.

But suddenly from the mountain came a dragon all red with sparkling flakes.

The dolphin was not frightened by the strange creature, and said:

-Hello, Who are you and what is this strange mountain?"

-Hello,   said the dragon with a cavernous voice, I am the Dragon, and my name is Francesco but you can call me Francis. I live in the Etna Volcano. This is Sicily one Italian island surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. There are many little Volcanos here in Sicily but Etna is the biggest. Who are you? Where are you from?

"My name Arion, I am a dolphin and I come from the beautiful island of Crete. I came to explore the beauty of the Mediterranean Sea and seeing Sicily was once inhabited by my Greek ancestors

I'm looking for a friend to play with, do you want to play with me?

Of course, Francis replied, and decided to build together a ball  half of fire and   half of water.

It was a strange decision, wasn’it? Sometimes is difficult to imagine that things so different can stay closer! but the two elements, magically, managed to stay together!

They played many days together, they talked and they told each others many stories about their islands and spent some nice days together.

But one day Arion exploring the deep sea, found a bottle with a message inside.

He read the message and realized that it was written by her friend turtle, the one that he had saved freeing it from the net.

"Anyone who reads this message, come and help me please! I was captured by fishermen and they're taking me in Spain on a huge ship. HELP!

Arion, worried, ran to seek help from Francesco, you had to help his turtle friend.

Francis, I think, and I think, trying an idea. So he decided to use all the magical power of fire and gave Arion to a stone made from the lava of the volcano.

"When you need me you will touch the magic stone and you will become a half dragon and half dolphin. You will fly high in the sky or go down into the bottom of the sea and you can save the turtle. "

The two friends said goodbye and Arion starts its long. long trip to Spain ...

Chapter 3

THE EXCITING SEARCHING OF ARION`S FRIEND, THE TORTOISE.

It was a sunny midday. The sun was shining in the horizon and birds greeted when crossing with Arion.

While that, Arion was thinking how to rescue his friend the tortoise, he remembered how Spanish ships looked like, because he needed to identify the ship where his friend the tortoise was.

When swimming, he saw a shadow that was approaching quickly to him. It was a swordfish that cut the collar of his friend Francis gave him and whose collar hold the magic stone.

The stone came down and land into a giant clam. Promptly, Arion went to the bottom to retrieve it. When Arion was about to picked it up, giant clam was closed a Arion was trapped into it.

There was a completely darkness. Immediately, Arion threw a strong flare to light the way to take. Then, he found two paths. Which way to take? He wondered. All of a sudden, he heard low voices calling for help.

Arion went directly there to check what´s wrong? He found a lot of garbage and black bag in the middle in which there was a family of sardines which were also trapped in one of the many bags that were thrown daily to the sea.

Arion didn´t hesitate in releasing them and all together tried to find the exit. In a short distance they found a door with an inscription that said:

“ To cross this door, you must find solution to the next problem: 

There are three doors. In each one you can see a post. First sentence is read Starving (dead of hungry) shark, in the second one 5 poison jellyfish and in last one 12 starving (dead of hungry) giant piranhas. ” . Which door to take?

Arion asked sardines about which option would be the best. The oldest sardine daughter got the solution:

- I think we should take number three because starving (dead of hungry) piranhas don´t do any harm caused they are dead of hungry.

In that moment door number three was opened and Arion and his friends the sardines went on their road to the exit.

When being very close to came out of shell they bumped into a wall made of an unknown material by them, "the bedroock", extremely resistant material, it only could be destroyed with the highest temperature of fire.

Arion used flares of dragon to destroy the wall. When he could come across they realised how the wall was rebuilt at that time.

When Arion resurface, he saw at the horizon a piece of Spanish land and thought: "I´m really close of Spain".

Consequently, the sardines wanted to come back home and said goodbye wishing good luck to Arion.

The little dolphin went on his journey. Suddenly, a strong noise shocked Arion. When turning around he saw how a twister was approaching to him and then was sucked by twister.

At the time of waking up he realised to be in Spanish coast. Arion looked to the sky and he could see the most beatiful butterfly that he had ever seen before. Multicoloured wings, nacreous gleams made him to be in a dream.

The butterfly told Arion that she was sent by his friend the toroise to inform him about where she was taken. That place was Tomelloso (Spain).

Arion undertook a journey towards Tomelloso. Therefore, he did it through multitude of rivers, lakes, lagoons that he found along the journey. But not always there was water in the way, to solve this incovenient Arion used his fire power in order to fuse the stone and find subterranean waters.

Thus, little by little Arion was approaching to his destination, when near from Ruidera Lagoons he saw a tortoise, which Arion though she was his friend, but he realised that tortoise was a member of her family, specifically an ancient tortoise which was said she was an enchantress with magical powers. In that moment, they were talking about the problem and decided to go and rescue her together. When the tortoise raised to the Arion loins pressed strongly her claws and accidentally tortoise produced a wound on Arion.

Thanks to tortoise powers, they could see his friend was in the zoo near from riverside. They hid behind scrubs in order to get dark. When the moon appeared, they place next to the Aquarium of dolphins and tortoise, and in that way they went unnoticed. A bit later, they found his friend and fuse in a great embrace. 

When zoo-guards were not looking around, Arion raised their tortoise friends in his loins and jumped Aquarium towards the river to be safe. Cause too much weight in his loins, Arion couldn´t a powerful jump and consequently Arion injured seriously with fence border, even so, they reached riverside without difficulties.

In gratitude for helping, ancient tortoise gave Arion a magic shell that would cure his wound and work as protection in his journey. And it was time to say goodbye. All of them seemed very sad but tortoise had to come back to the sea, and our friend Arion undertook his journey to France to decode his weird dream of last nightlook for some new adventures.

CHAPTER 4

Between two seas...

Between two seas, a triangle of land between two seas, how is it possible ?

Though it is what Arion has dreamt of: a beautiful hilly land covered by vineyards, a land called “Entre-Deux-Mers” ("Between-Two-Seas”).

And remember Arion is a young dolphin who was born in Crete and he dreams of an adventurous life. After his visit to Sicily and Spain even if he came there a bit by accident to rescue a turtle this young dolphin thinks it is time to fulfill his dreams : first take part to The Dolphin Games and now live the dream he made in Tomelloso.

That’s the reason why his journey starts again through seas, rivers, and ocean. He swims now in the Atlantic Ocean and sees a strange shape on the coast: a kind of mouth which is like an invitation. He decides to go that way and he soon faces two choices: one blue river on his left or a muddy one on his right.

As he hesitates he decides to fly over with his butterfly’s wings and see what the landscape looks like.

And here is the land shaped as a triangle, Entre-Deux-Mers, drawn by the two rivers. He flies down to the ground as he can see many little rivers where he can swim as well as a dolphin.

The air is full of perfumes and machines’ noise. Arion is a little bit confused and decides to dive into great blue pools down there. Blue as his Mediterranean Sea.

The pools are located in a quarry of beautiful white stone. Men and tractors come to get water to refresh the machines Arion has heard before. Those machines cut the stones into slices. The noise is too loud and Arion prefers to leave. But he thinks of all the stories he will tell to friends and family when he comes back to Rethymno.

A little breeze flows him to the strange plants he has seen while flying over the surroundings. The plants seemed to draw straight lines from the sky.

There are men working on huge noisy machines. The perfume comes from there too. First unidentified Arion recognizes it now: it is the perfume of grapes. And he knows those plants: this is a vineyard all around. Vineyards as in Crete, in Sicily or in Spain.

As he comes closer he meets a group of children : they are pupils from the neighbour school and they soon surround him asking thousands of questions. They are in the vineyard with their teacher to study it.

“What’s your name?”, “Why do you have wings?”, “Are you a dolphin or a butterfly?”, “Where do you come from?”, “How have you got here in Frontenac?”

Arion tries to answer and explains: “I’m Arion. I was born in Crete, in Rethymno. I wanted to go to Sicily because of The Dolphin Games but I met a turtle and I helped her as well as sardines in Spain, and I also met a dragon...”

“A dragon? Tell us more!”

No one can stop the children, not even their teacher. But when she finally starts again her presentation Arion is very interested. She tells many things about grapes and vineyards and how men work in.

She tells that grapes are an extraordinary kind of plant whose roots go very deep into the ground. But she hasn’t brought any tool to dig the ground and show her pupils how deep the roots are.

Arion shares children’s disappointment and as he thinks of the magical shell the turtle gave him he feels something strange on his fins. Strong claws start to grow on strong short feet and he can dig the ground now and let the roots of the plants appear!

Both pupils and teacher say: “But you look like a turtle now! Hurray Arion, you’ve done so well. Thank you! What a unique and strange creature you are now. You are a dolphin and a dragon and a butterfly and a turtle. You combine the four elements; Water, Earth, Air, Fire. Let’s call you WEAF! And we’ll keep your look for our school’s mascot!”

WEAF/Arion is very happy. He follows the pupils and their teacher on the way back to school but when the group gathers to get in the playground, WEAF/Arion gets into a truck which is parked in front of the school. He is so curious! He just has time to see beautiful stones from the quarry before being trapped in the vehicule. The back door is suddenly locked and the engine starts. The stones start a long journey through Europe to be delivered to Poland!

CHAPTER 5

DOLPHIN’S PROBLEM

It was a sunny and cloudless day. After a long but peaceful journey Arion arrived to Poland.

When he got some rest, he decided to play in the Baltic Sea. While he was having fun, he heard some strange noise coming from the bottom of the sea. Without hesitating he swam to it. After a while, he noticed a strange animal.

Arion decided to say hello.

- Hi! My name’s Arion. I’m a dolphin from Crete.

- Nice to meet you, – a strange creature answered.

- What’s your name? – Arion asked.

- I’m Atom, and I’m a ray, – he said.

- Are you from here? – Arion asked.

- Yes, I am. Would you like to get to know my area? – Atom asked

Arion willingly agreeded and soon they set off. Their first stop was a crane lift in Gdańsk. Arion was very curious to see it and Atom told him that it was one of the oldest cranes in the world. Secondly, they reached the pier in Sopot. Atom told him some stories about it and Arion was wondering how it was possible to build the construction on water surface.

Next, they had a break for dinner. They ate stuffed fish and some salad served on a shell. Arion enjoyed it a lot. He even had a second helping. Then, they swam to Westerplatte. Atom told him the most important historical facts connected with it. Finally, they got to a port. Arion saw many ships of different kind, big, small, old and modern. He got to know some curious facts about one of them. After they had finished their trip, they had some fun together. They chased and played a ball.

Then, Atom introduced his large, a 15 – member – family. They had common, solemn supper. Before Arion’s departure they had a chat. When two friends started to say goodbye, they felt that they were being dragged into a net. There were fishermen! They couldn’t get out. They shouted loudly but nobody could hear them. They were taken away.  

CHAPTER 6

WEAF  let himself to be carried by adventure ...

Surprised to see the strange creature, the fishermen decided to ask for the opinion of the captain Anton , who was Romanian. He advised them to bring it at the Museum Antipa, in Bucharest.

     A team of researchers has been working for many days, carefully analyzing the creature, but nobody could explain its origins.

One day, while WEAF was alone and sad in a cage made of glass in the central hall of the museum, a group of students from School Elena Doamna-Tecuci came to visit the place. Hearing the children 's  voices and seeing the joy on their faces, WEAF got  up and asked for help. Suddenly, all the children made a human chain around the cage where they had seen "the strange creature" made of the symbols of the four elements. Those who were braver unlocked and opened  the cage.

Released from the captivity, WEAF flew through the glass dome of the museum. After many days in captivity, eager to be free and looking forward to relaxing, WEAF  let himself to be carried by adventure over the Carpathians Mountains. From above he could see beautiful places from Romania: the Transfăgărășan mountain road, Transalpina mountain road, the Bran Castle, the Sphinx and Babele rocks. He could also see beautiful forests , as green as the emerald, crystalline waters, colorful cities.        

The homesick shaded his joy of  travel but  WEAF could not leave  without thanking to the children because they had released him. That is why he decided to reach Tecuci where the sight was interesting with golden wheat fields cheered up by  red poppies , vegetable gardens and greenhouses, vineyards and orchards.

     When he was above the school, WEAF heard the children voices calling his name as they had recognized him

Even if he was tired, he followed the way his new friends showed him to south  towards the Danube river.

     In Galați, Weaf  started swimmimg downstream in the cool waves of the Danube.

CHAPTER 7

The joyful news and invitation to unforgettable party of friendship and love!

Weaf was swimming and following the stream Danube river until he reached Croatian riverside. He wanted to find new friends and tell them about his adventures.

Soon Weaf met the Swallow Lastana who lives in the Kopački rit, Nature Park.

"Hey, what's your name?" the swallow asked. „Yes, you strange creature, I'm talking to you." Weaf replied, "My name is Weaf, and yours?"

"I'm Lastana. In Croatian language, mean female swallow. Will you join me to Kopački rit? "the swallow asked.

“I would love to," replied Weaf .

Weaf really liked Kopacki rit, especially wetland birds. He flew along with them, wandering high in the sky from where he saw the green space of gardens, fields and woods.

He slow down, closer to the ground. The smell of rosy fruits, which glowed in the sun, dazzled his gaze. Lastana invited him drop down.

"Are you hungry?" Lastana asked him pointing with her wing on the sun-drenched fruits. Only then did Weaf realize how much his long journey had exhausted and starved him. "May I," Weaf whispered and before Lastana answered Weaf already relished the juicy blue plum. 

After a brief banquet they decided to continue together their journey through Croatia. They flew over the oak forests, flat expanses of the lowland region and mountains with vineyards spread across their slopes. "Look down," said Lastana, "follow me." Lastana decided to introduce him with her friends, Klepetan and Malena that had just finished feeding their little ones, their newly-hatched little storks. "Where are we?" Weaf asked. In Lonjsko polje Nature Park, in the village named Čigoč precisely, called The stork village ", said Lastana. "Come, let me introduce you to my friends." Klepetan and Malena, as great hosts welcomed Weaf, and after a substantial feast Weaf told them his adventure stories.Slowly night fell and the sun was getting ready for the night's rest. The little chicks in their nest listened closely to Weaf's adventures which he had experienced on the way to Croatia.

The next morning, at dawn he went on his way. He wanted to see the Adriatic Sea, which he had heard stories about since he was very small. Lastana suggested that they should first visit Zagreb, capital city of Croatia, together. The most interesting thing for Weaf was the Museum of Dražen Petrović, one of the best basketball players of all time. 

The same day, they continued their journey to the sea. The day was sunny and hot. Weaf wanted to cool down, so Lastana suggested Plitvice Lakes National Park. Crystal waters awoke in Weaf desire to play. He taught Lastana the dolphin’s jump, and she taught him somersault in the air.

After playing and cooling down they decided to move on. 

They flew over the Velebit Mountain behind which was a stunning sea view. Impressed by the indented coast and the numerous of islands, rocks and reefs. "Croatia is a country with more than 1,000 islands," said Lastana seeing Weaf’s enthusiasm. As the sun slowly sank into the sea, he saw a pod of dolphins. He joined them because of the desire for new friends. After the jump he saw Adriana, the Mediterranean monk seal. He followed her to Šibenik, city of the fortresses, to see The Cathedral of St. James and beautiful small and narrow streets.

Lastana built a nest on the dome of the Cathedral, and Weaf met a love of his life and decide to stay for a little bit longer. He thought "Croatia may be small, but it has a big heart." 

While they were watching the romantic sunset, Weaf was telling stories about his big adventures and the countries that he saw.

At that moment, they decided, tomorrow they will be back on the same journey and spread the joyful news and invite all their friends to the unforgettable party of friendship and love!