Two young dolphins named Chehalem and Nehalem lived in the ocean. They loved to explore and play, curious about the world above and below the water.
One day, while swimming near a colorful coral reef, they met Eugene, an old sea turtle with many stories to tell.
“Why do we live in water but breathe air?” Nehalem asked.
Eugene smiled. “You are special. You can explore the sea and visit the surface. Not many creatures can do both.”
The dolphins looked at each other. “But it’s hard,” Chehalem said quietly.
“Then you should find the narwhal,” Eugene said. “He understands what it means to live in both worlds.”
“Will you come with me?” Chehalem asked Nehalem eagerly.
But Nehalem shook his head. “This is just a story. I’m going back home.”
The Journey
While Nehalem returned to familiar waters, Chehalem swam north. He traveled for days, passing schools of fish, underwater mountains, and dark trenches. He helped a stuck crab, braved a fierce storm, and made friends with playful seals.
Soon, Chehalem met Thira, a mermaid with a rainbow tail. “I know where the narwhal lives,” she said. “I can take you to him.”
Thira and Chehalem journeyed together through the cold waters of the Arctic.
Finally, they found him.
Naro, with a shimmering tusk that glowed in the moonlight, approached them. “Welcome, Chehalem. I was like you once. Tell me, what brings you here?”
“I don’t know where I fit,” Chehalem said. “We live in water but breathe air. It feels wrong.”
Naro listened. “Like you, I’ve lived in the water but breathed air all my life. At first, I envied the fish who never had to leave the water, and the birds who never got wet. But then I learned something.”
“What?” Chehalem asked.
“Coming up for air gives us a different way to see everything. Only we understand what others cannot. Our gift is exploring everywhere, learning their secrets, and helping every creature we meet. I’ve protected these waters for a long time because I can travel freely between sea and sky.”
He had never been stuck between two places. He belonged to both.
He thanked Naro and Thira and returned home, ready to help others.
The Darkness
Back home, Nehalem’s loneliness had turned to anger. He tried swimming up to a group of dolphins, hoping to join their game. But they ignored him, laughing and spinning without him.
The hurt twisted inside him.
“If no one wants me,” he thought, “I’ll make them notice me.”
His rage transformed him into an orca, the ocean’s fiercest hunter. He moved through the reefs like a storm, scattering fish and silencing the coral playgrounds. Wherever he went, the sea grew still.
When Chehalem returned and saw what Nehalem had become, he swam to his old friend. “Nehalem, please. You don’t have to be this way.”
But Nehalem couldn’t hear him. He struck out, and Chehalem fell toward the ocean floor.
As Chehalem sank, all Nehalem’s rage vanished, replaced by terrible sadness. He saw what he had done to his only friend.
Ashamed and heartbroken, Nehalem disappeared into the deep.
The Last Narwhal
Before Chehalem touched the bottom, Thira appeared. A long, sparkling tusk sprouted from his forehead.
“The ocean chooses you,” Thira said softly.
And so, Chehalem became the last narwhal, keeping alive what Naro had taught him about belonging to both worlds.
Far away in the Arctic, Naro smiled in his sleep.
The End.
If Chehalem were a real toy, he might look like this:
The Abstractionist’s Papers 