Chapter  10
A little while later, Marlin was swimming along the ocean floor. Dory trailed close behind.
All at once, Marlin stopped short. They were at the edge of a long, dark, spooky-looking trench.
“Okay, let’s go!” Dory cried.
“Bad trench. Come on,” he told Dory. “We’re gonna swim over this thing.”
Dory shook her head. “Whoa, partner. Little red flag goin’ up. Something’s telling me we should swim through it, not over it.”
Marlin’s jaw dropped. “Are you even looking at this thing? It’s got death written all over it!”
“I’m sorry. But I really, really, really think we should swim through. Come on, trust me on this.”
“Trust you?” Marlin asked.
“Yes. Trust. It’s what friends do,” Dory said.
“Look!” Marlin said, trying to distract Dory. “Something shiny.” “Where?” said Dory.
“Oh, it just swam over the trench. Come on, we’ll follow it,” Marlin said.
“Okay!” Dory happily agreed, forgetting about the moonfish’s warning.
The two fish swam over the trench to clear blue water. In the distance they could see the fast-moving East Australian Current.
“We should be there in no time,” said Marlin.
Dory wasn’t listening. She was staring at a tiny jellyfish floating just in front of her. She moved closer. “Hey, little guy.”
“You wanted to go through the trench,” Marlin said with a laugh.
Dory reached for the jellyfish. “I shall call him Squishy. And he shall be my Squishy. Come here, little Squishy!”
But as Dory tried to touch the jellyfish, it stung her. “Ow!” she shouted.
“Dory!” Marlin gasped. “That’s a jellyfish!”
“Bad Squishy!” Dory said as Marlin pushed the jellyfish away from her.
“Shoo! Get away!” he said. Then he turned to Dory.
“Come here. Let me see that.” Marlin held Dory’s fin to examine the sting. Neither of them noticed more and more jellyfish swimming closer. The jellyfish were floating down from above.
“Hey, how come it didn’t sting you?” Dory asked.
“It did,” Marlin answered. “It’s just that I live in this anemone and I’m used to these kinds of stings. It doesn’t look too bad,” he told Dory. “You’re gonna be fine. But now we know, don’t we, that we don’t want to touch these again. Let’s be thankful this time it was just a little one.”
As they turned to go, hundreds of jellyfish blocked their path. Marlin couldn’t believe his eyes. This was seriously dangerous.
“Don’t move!” he ordered.
More and more jellyfish were coming. There were jellyfish as far as he could see!
“This is bad, Dory.” Marlin looked around. Dory was bouncing on top of a large jellyfish like it was a trampoline.
“Hey, watch this! Boing! Boing!” She laughed. “You can’t catch me,” she called to Marlin.
Oh, no, Marlin thought. She thinks this is fun.
He reached for her, but she bounced onto another jellyfish. Marlin closed his eyes, not wanting to see his friend get hurt again. But Dory didn’t scream. Marlin opened his eyes and saw her happily bouncing along. Then he remembered that the tops of jellyfish don’t sting.
“All right, listen to me!” he said to Dory. “I have an idea—a game.”
“I love games!” Dory cried.
“All right. Here’s the game: whoever can hop the fastest out of these jellyfish wins,” Marlin said.
“Okay! Okay!” Dory exclaimed.
“Rules, rules, rules! You can’t touch the tentacles. Only the tops,” Marlin ordered.
“Something about tentacles. Got it,” Dory said. “On your mark. Get set. Go!”
Dory took off jumping. Marlin followed slowly behind. “Now, be careful,” he told himself.
“Wheeeeee!” Dory giggled, leaping from one jellyfish to the next.
Marlin moved faster, trying to keep up. Boing! This was… kind of fun! He was actually having a good time!
“Dory, are you hungry?” asked Marlin. “Huh? Hungry?” Dory said.
“Yeah, ‘cause you’re about to eat my bubbles!” Marlin cried.
Then he bounded out of the jellyfish forest, feeling the pull of the East Australian Current nearby. “The clownfish is the winner!” he shouted to Dory. “We did it!”
But Dory wasn’t there.
“Oh, no!” Marlin groaned. He darted back to find her.
“Dory?” he called, peering through the jellyfish. Then he spotted her—wrapped up tight in a jellyfish’s tentacles.
Without even thinking, Marlin pushed through the other jellyfish. He shot straight through the giant tentacles and grabbed Dory.
Marlin was a fish on a mission—to save Dory. “Am I disqualified?” she asked, barely able to speak.
“You’re actually winning. But you’ve got to stay awake!” Marlin said.
Marlin held Dory with one fin. He paddled with the other. The water was thick with jellyfish. He could see one small patch of blue ahead. He had to reach it!
Barreling through the jellyfish, he shielded Dory with his body. As he went, he was stung again and again. With each new sting, he slowed down. He grew weaker. “Stay awake!” he kept saying—to Dory and to himself.
“Stay…” With his last bit of strength, Marlin pushed past a gigantic jellyfish. “…awake.”
He floated into the safety of the clear open water.
Weary, he saw something up ahead. Something big and green and moving very slowly… and then everything went black.