“I DID NOT LOSE THEM!” Dory shouted. She opened her eyes and saw that she was in a shallow pool. Sand and fake rocks were scattered about, and it was eerily quiet. Dory searched for her friend. “Hank?” she called. But there was no answer.
A variety of sea creatures, starfish, anemones, and sea cucumbers inched into the shadows. Some closed up tightly, while others tried their best to find somewhere to hide. A frightened sea cucumber burrowing in the sand behind her spoke in a hushed tone. “Hans ....”
“No, not Hans, I’m looking for Hank,” said Dory. “HANS,” the sea cucumber said a little louder, sinking deeper into the sand. “Hank with a K. HanK. HanK,” said Dory.
“HANDS!” the sea cucumber said, then it disappeared into the sand.
“Hands? Oh-ho-ho, HANDS!” said Dory.
Suddenly, the deafening sound of excited children echoed from above, and tiny hands plunged into the pool. Their little fingers poked and prodded the terrified creatures — it was a nightmare! A chubby little hand grabbed the sea cucumber and yanked it out of its hiding place. While the sea cucumber screamed, the kid shrieked with laughter.
Dory weaved to avoid the hands as she looked for Hank. Creatures everywhere cried out in pain and begged for mercy.
“No! No! Please!” screamed a sea urchin.
“Ow! Aaaah! No! This is not okay! Stop! Please!” screamed a terrified fish.
“My arm!” yelled a starfish.
“Hank, where are you?” Dory dodged more hands, nervously looking everywhere. She spotted a starfish crawling desperately toward a rock cave. “Can you please help me? I’m looking for —” Dory watched in horror as a hand plunged in and dragged the screaming starfish back into the murk.
“Please help me,” Dory said to a sea cucumber who was trying to stay hidden. “I’ve lost my friend Frank.”
She paused. “I’m sorry, not Frank.”
“You’re in my space!” shouted the sea cucumber. Then a hand reached in, grabbed it, and pulled it out of the water.
“He’s an oc-octopus? No, septopus. That’s right, he’s a septopus. Septopus, septopus, septopus,” she repeated, scrunching up her eyes and patting her fins to her temples in an effort to remember.
Dory suddenly realized — Hank was probably camouflaged! She began to look in a different way and noticed a piece of coral with seven long arms!
“Hank! Come on! Let’s get outta here,” she said, tugging him to safety.
Hank revealed himself. “Dory, what are you doing?” Terrified, he scrambled under a rock.
Dory raced after him and clung to one of his tentacles. “Hank! What’s the plan?”
“The plan is I’m gonna stay here forever!” said Hank, terrified.
“Okay. Good plan,” said Dory. She looked out at all the sea creatures, swimming for their lives and screaming in fear. “I’m sorry, Hank,” said Dory genuinely. “I’m sorry I can’t remember right.”
FLASH! A vivid memory struck Dory again.
She saw her childhood home, and her father was calling to her. “Oh! Watch out, kelpcake!” A sunfish passed in front of her as she was pulled back. “Ho, ho!” he said. “Watch where you’re going.”
Lots of fish traffic passed around the family. She could see the shell path leading all the way from her childhood home into the reef.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” said little Dory. “I’m sorry I can’t remember right.”
Jenny comforted Dory, speaking softly and gently. “You don’t need to be sorry. You know what you need to do? Just ... keep swimming. And I bet you can remember that because we’re just ... we’re gonna... um, we’re going to sing a song about it.” Then her mother began to sing, “Just keep swimming .... Just keep swimming ....”
Charlie started to sing along with Jenny, and the two went back and forth, singing in silly voices — even operatic! Little Dory giggled and sang along with her parents as they all swam together, singing and having fun.
Just as quickly as it came, the memory vanished, and Dory was back in the present moment. “My mom taught me that song! All this time, I thought I’d made it up!” she said, surprised.
“What song?” asked Hank.
“Just keep swimming!” she answered. “Hank, we’ve just got to keep swimming!”
“What? No way. Listen to me: it’s too dangerous to move!”
Dory faced Hank. “No, you listen to me,” she said firmly. “This is the only way to survive. I know you’re scared, but you can’t give up. Follow me!” Then she pulled him by one of his arms and they crept out of hiding. It was a total disaster — curious hands seemed to cover every inch of the pool!
Finally, a space opened in front of them and Dory raced ahead, singing her song. “Just keep swimming ... Just keep swimming ...”
Hank screamed as Dory pulled him along. Some sea worms poked their heads through holes in the rocks, giving ominous warnings as the friends passed by.
“Turn back! Turn back! You’re headed right for Poker’s Cove! Poker’s Cove!” they shouted.
Other fish stopped and stared, but it was too late: Dory led them directly into the grubbiest, poking-est place of all.
“Incoming!” Yelled a starfish, and all the fish in the touch pool screamed in terror. Dory and Hank panicked as fingers and hands began to poke and grab them!
One excited finger jabbed Hank in his side. Hard. In an instant, Hank inked, and the entire touch pool went black!
Disgusted, the children yanked their hands from the pool. “Ew! What is it?” they shouted, running off and crying.
“Sorry,” said Hank, embarrassed.
“That’s okay, everybody does it. Nothing to be ashamed of,” said Dory kindly.
A few seconds passed as Dory anxiously looked around for Hank in the black water. He finally emerged from a far corner of the pool, and Dory raced over to him, hugging him tightly. “Hank? Oh, Hank! There you are!”
Hank was stunned. Not only was he not used to being hugged, but he was amazed that they were actually safe. The pool felt a bit eerie now that all the kids had disappeared. “Wow,” he said. “You ... got us out of there.”
“I did, didn’t I?” Dory couldn’t believe it, either. “I got us out of there.”
“I mean, technically you also got us in there. But if you hadn’t, I’m not sure we would have gotten — here.”
Dory followed Hank’s gaze to a display that read echolocation ... the world’s most powerful pair of glasses!
She gasped. “The world’s most powerful pair of glasses. We found it!”
“No, no, no,” said Hank, pointing past the display. “You found THAT.”
The entire wall behind the display opened to reveal the entrance to the Open Ocean exhibit! A massive, cylindrical aquarium filled the entire room. Colorful fish of all different sizes swam around as a crowd of tourists stood stunned, watching the incredible display. Music played, and a voice began to speak.
“Hello,” said the voice.
It was Sigourney Weaver! Dory couldn’t believe it.
“I’m Sigourney Weaver. Welcome to Open Ocean!”
“Home,” Dory whispered.