Ollie’s Sunny Spot

“This is my sunny spot,” Ollie declared, though the sunshine was already sliding away.

He was a young right whale, broad and dark, with a curious nose and a tail that liked to swish. In the sheltered bay, the water was calm enough to hold a bright patch of afternoon sun. Ollie floated right beneath it.

“Mmm,” he murmured. “Warm water. A quiet bay. Just right.”

He opened his wide mouth and skimmed along the surface, taking in tiny bits of food from the water. Right whales were baleen whales, which meant they had long, brushy plates in their mouths instead of teeth. Ollie thought those plates were handy for catching a snack. They were less handy for guarding a sunny spot.

A small splash sounded nearby. Mina, another young right whale, surfaced and looked around.

“There it is!” she said. “I’ve been looking for that patch.”

Ollie moved a little closer to the middle of the sunshine. “I found it first.”

“But it’s big enough for two,” Mina said.

Ollie glanced at the patch. It was not very big at all. It lay on the water like a bright, wobbly rug, and he wanted every bit of it.

“Maybe later,” he said.

Mina waited beside him. She did not push or splash. She simply watched the bright water.

Then the patch slipped farther across the bay.

Ollie paddled after it. “Wait! My spot!”

The sun’s position changed, and the places where its light fell on the water changed too. The bright patch had moved toward a row of smooth rocks. Ollie followed, leaving Mina behind.

He reached the new spot and settled beneath it. But the sunshine kept traveling. Before long, it stretched toward the middle of the bay again.

Ollie turned one way, then the other. “How can a spot move when the water stays here?”

Mina swam alongside him. “Perhaps it isn’t a spot that belongs to anyone,” she said. “Perhaps it’s just visiting.”

Ollie watched the sunshine slide over the waves. He wanted it to stay. He wanted the whole bright patch for himself. And now it seemed to be heading away once more.

Ollie hurried after the sunshine. Mina followed, keeping a whale’s length behind.

The patch skimmed over a small wave, broke into several bright pieces, then joined together again. Ollie tried to line himself up beneath it. When he did, Mina was left in the shade.

“Could you move over a little?” she asked.

Ollie flicked his tail and moved only a little. The sunshine shifted again, slipping past his shoulder.

“Oh, no,” he said. “It’s going without me!”

He paddled quickly, but the patch traveled on toward the quiet end of the bay. Ollie swam after it until he reached the rocks. There, the water was too shallow for him to turn around comfortably. He slowed and lifted his head above the surface.

Mina waited in deeper water. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Ollie called. “I just wanted the sunshine to stay in one place.”

“Can it?” Mina asked.

Ollie looked across the bay. The sun was still up, but its light now fell somewhere else. The bright patch was not a prize he could hold or a blanket he could tuck around himself. It moved because the sun changed its place in the sky.

Ollie could chase it all afternoon and never make it stop.

He turned carefully and swam back toward Mina. “I can’t keep it here,” he said. “And I can’t make it wait.”

Mina nodded. “No. But we can be beneath it while it’s here.”

Ollie looked at the narrow patch now crossing the open water. He could keep trying to claim the middle. Or he could make room.

“Come beside me,” he said. “There’s space if we don’t wiggle so much.”

Mina slid in next to him. Ollie shifted his broad body just enough for them both to fit beneath the sunshine. Their tails made two small ripples, and the bright patch wavered over them.

“Look,” Mina said. “It’s wide enough after all.”

Ollie watched the light travel across the water. He no longer hurried after it. He and Mina floated together as the sunny patch moved on, sharing the warmth for as long as it stayed.

The bay grew quieter around them. A little wave rolled beneath Ollie and Mina, then softened against the sheltered shore.

“Do you think the sunshine will come back tomorrow?” Mina asked.

“Maybe,” Ollie said. “It likes to visit different places.”

“Then we can watch for it.”

Ollie gave a pleased little puff through his blowhole. A misty plume rose above him and vanished into the evening air.

The bright patch had traveled to the far side of the bay. Ollie did not chase it. He stayed beside Mina, feeling the water gently lift and lower them.

“Earlier, I thought the sunshine was mine,” he said.

“What do you think now?” Mina asked.

Ollie considered this. “I think it belongs to the bay for a little while. And when it finds us, we can share it.”

“Sharing the sunshine is a lovely way to spend its visit,” Mina said.

They floated toward the middle of the bay, where the water was calm and deep. Their sides brushed now and then as the small waves carried them along. Neither whale hurried. There was nowhere they needed to be.

Above them, the sky slowly dimmed. The sunlight thinned across the water, and the bright patch faded from the bay. Ollie watched its last pale stripe stretch between two ripples, then disappear.

“Good night, sunshine,” Mina said.

“See you when you come around again,” Ollie replied.

The bay settled into evening. Ollie and Mina stayed side by side, listening to the hush of water along the shore. Ollie blinked slowly as the bay darkened. Making room for Mina had felt right, and the sun’s journey had led them to one another.

Together, the two young whales floated quietly in the sheltered bay as evening gathered around them.