"Hi, I'm Dory," the five-year-old blue tang fish said brightly. "I suffer from short-term memory loss."

Dory's giant eyes slowly blinked as she floated, waiting for a response. Her parents, Jenny and Charlie, clapped their fins¹ with delight.

"Yes!" Jenny cheered.

"That's exactly what you say," said Charlie proudly.

Dory let out a happy sigh of relief. Remembering things was very hard for the energetic little fish, so her parents often asked her to practice introducing herself.

The family lived in a charming coral home nestled safely behind a tall patch of sea grass. As the water's current moved, the sea grass waved gracefully².

"Okay, we'll pretend to be the other kids now," said Jenny. She and Charlie each took a deep breath as they attempted to get into character. "Hi, Dory," her mom said in a small voice.

"Ahoy there!" said Charlie in his best five-year-old voice. The sound of her parents pretending to be little fish made Dory giggle³.

"Do you want to play hide-and-seek?" asked Charlie.

"Okay!" said Dory, tickled⁴.

"We'll hide, and you count and come find us," said Charlie.

"I'm hiding!" Jenny sang out from behind the sea grass.

Charlie turned to face his daughter. "Now count to ten," he said.

Dory placed her fins over her eyes and began to count while her father swam away. "One, two, three, um ... four ... um ..." But that was as far as she got. Dory uncovered her eyes and looked around. She blinked and looked down, then rubbed her fins over the soft sand. She had already forgotten about the game.

"I like sand. Sand is squishy," she said, completely distracted by the sand.

Just then, Dory heard the sounds of children giggling⁵ in the distance. She peeked⁶ through the tall grass and saw a large school of young blue tangs playing together, swirling⁷ around like a ribbon and having a great time. Dory swam toward them. She wanted to play, too! But her parents quickly came out of their hiding places and stopped her before she could join.

"Okay!" said Charlie. "Hide-and-seek might be a little advanced for right now."

Dory drew in a quick breath. "Mommy, can I go play with them?" she asked.

"Another time, honey," said Jenny gently. "Not until you're ready."

Dory saw her parents exchange a strained look that made her feel terrible. She never meant to disappoint them ... but it just kept happening. "Did I forget again?" she asked sheepishly.

"No biggie, kelpcake," said Charlie, trying to lighten the mood by calling Dory one of her many nicknames.

"Oh, sweetie, it's okay. Don't worry about it," said Jenny.

"What if I forget you?" asked Dory fearfully. Then she gasped⁸. "Would you ever forget me?"

"Oh, kelpcake, no," said Charlie.

"We will never forget you, Dory," added Jenny. "And we know you'll never forget us."

Dory smiled up at her parents as they both hugged her tightly.

 

“嗨，我是多莉，”这条五岁的蓝唐王鱼欢快地说道，“我有短时记忆丧失症。”

多莉漂浮着，等待着回应，一双大眼睛缓缓地眨了眨。她的父母，珍妮和查理，高兴地拍打着鱼鳍。

“没错！”珍妮喝彩道。

“就是要这样说。”查理骄傲地说。

多莉开心地舒了口气。这条精力充沛的小鱼总是很难记住事情，所以她的父母经常让她练习自我介绍。

这一家子住在一间迷人的珊瑚屋里，屋前有一簇高茂的海草，非常安全。海水流动，海草也随之轻盈摇摆。

“好的，现在我们要假扮其他孩子了。”珍妮说。她和查理各自深吸了一口气，尝试着进入角色。“嗨，多莉。”她的妈妈细声细气地说道。

“喂！”查理竭力地装出五岁孩童的声音。父母俩那假装鱼娃娃的声音逗得多莉咯咯直笑。

“你想玩捉迷藏吗？”查理问。

“好啊！”多莉说着，乐不可支。

“我们来藏，你数数，然后来找我们。”查理说。

“我藏好了！”珍妮在海草丛后喊道。

查理转向女儿。“现在数到十，”他说。

当父亲游向别处时，多莉用鱼鳍捂住双眼，数起数来。“一，二，三，嗯……四……嗯……”但是她也只能数到这儿。多莉露出眼睛，四处望了望。她眨眨眼，向下一看，然后在松软的沙地上擦了擦双鳍。她已经把游戏的事情忘得一干 二净。

“我喜欢沙子。沙子软绵绵的。”她说，完全被沙子分散了注意力。

就在这时，多莉听到远方传来孩子们的欢笑声。她透过高高的草丛，瞥见一大群小蓝唐王鱼正在一起玩耍，像绸带似的弯曲盘旋，玩得好不开心。多莉游向他们。她也想去玩！可她的父母很快从藏身的地方冲了出来，拦着不让她去。

“好吧！”查理说，“捉迷藏现在可能还是有点难度。”

多莉急忙深吸了口气。“妈咪，我能和他们一起玩吗？”她问道。

“下次吧，宝贝，”珍妮温柔地说，“现在你还不行。”

多莉看见她的父母紧张地交换了一下眼色，这让她感觉很糟。她从没想要让他们失望……可这事总是发生。“我是不是又忘事了？”她怯怯地问道。

“没什么大不了的，小宝贝。”查理说，叫着多莉众多昵称中的一个，努力缓解气氛。

“噢，亲爱的，没什么。别担心。”珍妮说。

“万一我不记得你们了怎么办？”多莉恐惧地问道。接着她倒抽了口气：“你们有时也会忘记我吗？”

“哦，小宝贝，不会的。”查理说。

“我们决不会忘记你的，多莉，”珍妮补充道，“我们还知道你永远不会忘记我们。”

多莉的父母紧紧地拥抱着她，她抬头对着他们微笑着。

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