“Dory? Dory!” Mr. Ray said, peering over at her as she lay lifeless in the sand.
The kids gasped. “Is she dead?” asked Chickenfish, taking a closer look.
“No, she’s not dead!” snapped Mr. Ray. A few kids groaned, disappointed. “Give her some space, everybody.”
Dory moved slightly and she started to murmur. 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 frantically 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 scrunched up her face and batted her fins 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 flustered. 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 ... gem 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, frustrated.
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 intercepted 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.”