"Dory? Dory!" Mr. Ray said, peering over at her as she lay lifeless in the sand.

The kids gasped¹. "Is she dead?" asked Chickenfish, taking a closer look.

"No, she's not dead!" snapped Mr. Ray. A few kids groaned², disappointed. "Give her some space, everybody."

Dory moved slightly and she started to murmur³. Nemo leaned in, trying to decipher her words. It was difficult to understand what she was saying, but it sounded like "Jewel of Morro Bay, California."

Dory's eyes slowly fluttered open as Mr. Ray, Marlin, Nemo, and the rest of the class stared down at her.

"I remembered something," Dory gasped. In an instant, she was off the sea floor and frantically⁴ swimming in circles. "I remembered something! I actually remembered something! Something important!" She couldn't believe it. Dory had never experienced a memory before!

★★★

Later that day, when Marlin came to pick Dory and Nemo up from school, Dory was still confused and excited by her memory, even though she couldn't remember what it was. She scrunched⁵ up her face and batted her fins⁶ against her temples, trying as hard as she could to tap into it.

"Ugh ... I'm not sure anymore ... but I can still feel it. It's ... it's right there .... It's still in there ...."

"All right," said Marlin, ready to head home. "Thank you, Mr. Ray!"

Mr. Ray and the class looked at each other, concerned, and watched as the three swam off.

With Marlin and Nemo following behind, Dory continued to strain, searching her mind for the hidden memory.

"Okay, c'mon. Try to remember better. Don't be such a Dory, Dory!" she muttered, closing her eyes and pressing her fins against her temples. "Ahhh ... I don't remember ... It was something ... it was something about um, the um ..."

"The Jewel of Morro Bay, California?" offered Nemo, repeating the phrase he thought he'd heard Dory say earlier.

Dory gasped and her eyes popped wide open as a flood of memories whipped through her mind. She heard young fish playing and laughing and saw her parents singing "Just keep swimming."

When she snapped back to the present moment, Dory raced ahead into the coral. "My family!" she said, thunderstruck. "My family! I REMEMBER MY FAMILY! They're out there somewhere! I have to find them! Guys, you gotta help me! Guys? Hello? Guys, where are you?"

"Dory!" shouted Marlin.

Dory was flustered⁷. She anxiously looked around for Marlin and Nemo. "My parents! I remember — them! My mom, my dad. I have a family!" said Dory excitedly. Then she gasped. "They don't know where I am. Let's go! We have to go!" Dory took off.

Marlin caught up to her and pulled her back. "Dory, no! No! This is crazy! Where exactly are you trying to go?"

"To the — to the ... gem⁸ of the ... Baltic?"

"The Jewel of Morro Bay, California," said Nemo.

"Yes!" exclaimed Dory.

"No!" said Marlin. He continued to hold her back, preventing her from swimming away. "Dory, California's all the way across the ocean."

"Then we better get going! Come on!" she said, trying to break free from Marlin's grasp.

"How come every time we're on the edge of this reef, one of us is trying to leave? For once, can't we just enjoy the view?" Marlin asked, frustrated⁹.

Dory finally wiggled free, and she was upset. "How can you be talking about the view when I remembered my family?" She raced away again, but Marlin intercepted¹⁰ and slowly pushed her back to the safety of the reef.

"No, no! We've done our ocean travels. That part of our lives is over. The only reason you travel in the first place is so you don't have to travel ever again," said Marlin firmly. Then he lost his grip on Dory and slipped, falling face-first into the sand. He coughed, spitting sand out of his mouth.

"Please," said Dory. "All I know is that I miss them. I really, really miss them. I didn't know what that felt like ...  Do you know what that feels like?"

She stared straight into Marlin's eyes.

Marlin sighed and looked over at Nemo. He remembered how much his heart ached when Nemo had gotten lost the year before. "Yes," he said softly. "I know what that feels like."

Dory looked out at the vast open water sadly, and Marlin's heart broke for his dear friend. He wouldn't wish the feeling on anyone.

"I don't want to forget this," said Dory. "Somewhere — out there — is my family. Please, Marlin. I can't find them on my own. I'll forget. Please help me find my family."

"Yeah, Dad," said Nemo. "You can get us all the way across the ocean, right?"

"No," Marlin said, and their faces fell. "But I know a guy."

 

“多莉？多莉！”雷老师一边说，一边打量着多莉——她躺在沙地上，毫无生气。

孩子们都屏住呼吸。“她死了吗？”鸡鱼凑前看了一眼问道。

“不，她没死！”雷老师呵斥道。几个孩子失望地咕哝了下。“给她一点空间吧，各位。”

多莉微微一动，接着就咕哝起来。尼莫倾身上前，想要听清楚她的话。她的话实在是不好懂，不过听起来好像是“加利福尼亚的明珠莫罗湾”。

雷老师、马林、尼莫和班上其他同学都在低头凝视着多莉，她双眼微微颤动，醒了过来。

“我想起了一件事。”多莉喘气道。一转眼，她便从海底翻身而起，疯狂地转圈游动。“我想起了一件事！我确实想起了一件事！一件很重要的事！”她觉得难以置信。她以前从未有过记忆这样的体验！

★★★

当天晚些时候，马林去学校接多莉和尼莫时，多莉尽管已经不记得什么了，但还在为自己的记忆而感到既困惑又激动。她皱着眉头，双鳍敲打着太阳穴，努力地想要敲出这段记忆。

“呃……虽然我不是很确定……但我仍然感觉得到……就在这里……还在这里……”

“好吧，”马林说着，准备回家，“谢谢你，雷老师！”

雷老师和班上的同学面面相觑，忧心忡忡地望着他们三个游走了。

马林和尼莫跟在后面，多莉还在坚持不懈，想要找回脑海中隐藏的那段记忆。

“好了，来吧。再好好想想。别这么多莉了，多莉！”她嘟囔道，闭上眼睛，双鳍压着太阳穴。“啊……我记不起来了……是什么……是关于什么的，呃……”

“加利福尼亚的明珠莫罗湾？”尼莫提醒道，重复了之前他觉得多莉所说过的话语。

多莉屏住呼吸，双目圆瞪，记忆如洪水般猛地涌入了她的脑海之中。她听见小鱼们嬉戏的笑声，看见了她父母唱着“不停地游啊游”。

很快多莉回转神来，向前冲进了珊瑚丛里。“我的家人！”她大吃一惊地说。“我的家人！我记起了我的家人！他们在别处的某个地方！我必须找到他们！伙计们，你们得帮帮我！伙计们？喂？伙计们，你们在哪儿？”

“多莉！”马林喊道。

多莉慌张起来。她焦虑地四处寻找马林和尼莫。“我的父母！我想起——他们了！我的妈妈，我的爸爸。我有家人！”多莉激动地说。她上气不接下气地说道：“他们不知道我在哪里。我们出发吧！我们必须得出发了！”多莉起身便走。

马林抓住她，一把拉了回来。“多莉，不行！不行！这太疯狂了！你到底想去哪里？”

“去那个——那个……波罗的海的明珠……？”

“加利福尼亚的明珠莫罗湾。”尼莫说。

“对的！”多莉呼叫道。

“不行！”马林说。他继续把她往回拽，想要阻止她游走。“多莉，去加利福尼亚必须得穿越整个大洋。”

“那我们现在就得出发了！快点！”她说着，想要从马林的掌控中挣脱出来。

“为什么每次来到这个暗礁边上，我们当中的一个就会想着离开？我们就不能有一次好好欣赏一下风景吗？”马林灰心丧气地问道。

多莉终于摆脱了束缚，她心烦意乱。“我才想起了我的家人，你这会儿聊什么风景？”她又冲了出去，可马林拦住了她，慢慢地把她拉回到了暗礁上的安全地带。

“不行，不行！我们已经跨洋旅行过了。那段经历已经结束。你一开始旅行的唯一理由就是不必再去旅行。”马林坚定地说道。可这次他没能抓牢多莉，滑了一跤，一脸摔在了沙地上。他咳嗽几声，吐出了嘴中的沙子。

“求求你了，”多莉说，“我只知道我很想念他们。我真的，真的很想念他们。我以前从来都不知道那是种什么感受……你知道那是种什么样的感受吗？”

她直勾勾地盯着马林的双眼。

马林叹了口气，低头望了望尼莫。他想起了去年尼莫走丢之时的那种心痛感觉。“是的，”他柔声说道，“我知道那是一种什么样的感受。”

多莉忧伤地望着汪洋大海，马林也为他亲爱的朋友而感到伤心难过。他真希望谁也不要有那种感受。

“我不想忘记这个，”多莉说，“外面——某个地方——有我的家人。求求你了，马林。我独自没法找到他们。我会忘事。求求你帮我找到我的家人吧。”

“是啊，爸爸，”尼莫说，“你可以带着我们一路穿越大洋， 对吧？”

“不行，”马林说道，他们的脸色顿时变得阴沉，“不过我知道有个家伙可以。”

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