The Legend of Annabella & the Dolphins
I probably shouldn’t be doing this.
Telling this secret Palisadian story in the town paper.
This secret story that only Palisadians know—that Palisadians of every age have been doing at the Dolphin Fountain on the Village Green for many, many years.
The Legend of Annabella & the Dolphins.
If you haven’t heard this, you may want to share this with your kids.
________
Cut to the summer of 1971.
It was about a month before the beautiful Village Green was landscaped and built by the good folks of the town.
An orange summer sun was gloriously setting behind the mountains in the Palisades.
The photographer of the Palisadian-Post in those days was a great guy, Seda Silap. Everybody loved Seda. He was shooting a few pictures of the soon-to-be Village Green.
With the old Standard Oil gas station leveled, it was nothing but a field of dirt.
He saw a young girl, about 11 years old, with short golden hair. She was standing by herself—staring right where the dolphins were going to be on a statue in the fountain.
He snapped a picture of her.
And the girl was walking in a small circle.
Once to the left. Once to the right. Then once to the left. Whispering something about loving the Palisades—he couldn’t hear it all.
He walked toward her to get her name for the picture—if he put it in the paper.
As he got close to her, she turned around and spotted him.
Right in front of his eyes, she …
Slowly disappeared.
He stood there. “Am I losing my mind?” I saw her. I just took a picture of her. Where did she go?
________
Seda hurried back to his darkroom at the paper. Developed the black and white picture.
Sure enough, there she was. The little girl.
A little blurry, but there she was.
He became consumed—trying to solve who this little girl was in the picture.
He asked everyone in town if they knew her. Put that picture on town bulletin boards. Put the picture in the paper.
Nobody knew her.
It absolutely haunted him.
Fast-forward three years.
Late at night in the old “House of Lee” restaurant, where Pearl Dragon is now.
The photographer was sitting behind the beads at the bar with Steve McQueen, James Whitmore, and Joan and Peter Graves.
Sipping their mai tais from glasses the size of basketballs and sharing old Palisades stories of the first Methodist families and settlers in the early 1920s.
Joan mentioned her parents remembering a story about a beloved young, 11-year-old girl with short golden hair.
Seda set down his sixth mai tai. Momentarily sobered up as Joan continued her story …
________
Her name was Annabella.
In the summer of 1922, all the new families would go to the stunning, sandy Palisades beach.
And just past the ocean’s wake, they could often spot two dolphins: a mom and her baby.
Joan continued. She said that the dolphins had a special relationship with this little girl—Annabella.
As soon as she would jump in the water, the two dolphins would appear.
Every single time.
They’d always circle her … once to the left, once to the right, then back to the left—clicking and whistling their joy being with her.
At this point in Joan’s story, the photographer was about to explode. Either from the story or the six mai tais gurgling in his belly.
And Joan said there was something else …
All the kids and all parents of the Palisades knew that if they swam out with Annabella and if the dolphins circled around them—amazingly good luck would come their way.
Within seven days.
________
Seda bolted back to the newspaper’s office at 11 at night.
Every old issue of the paper, every printed article—he combed them all.
Looked everywhere for anything he could find about what happened to somebody, anybody named Annabella. Under the one light in the newspaper’s office, hours ticked by …
Sure enough, he found her. There she was.
In the obituaries.
Annabella Strom. Died at 61 years old. Born January 14, 1911.
Daughter of one of the first town settlers. A family in the deli business. Moved to the Palisades when she was 11—where she happily lived her whole life.
And then he read the thing that knocked him right off his chair.
She died just a day before he took that picture of her on the Village Green.
________
He knew, he just knew it was young Annabella on the Village Green.
He knew that Annabella was so happy her town was going to have a fountain celebrating those two beautiful dolphins.
She was there to remember her wonderful days and life in the Palisades.
________
The Legend of Annabella & the Dolphins spread around town.
Over the years, often between sunset and dusk, Palisadians of all ages visit the fountain and dare to walk along the top of the fountain’s bricks. To the left, to the right and back to the left—while quietly whispering the last two lines of the “Palisades Song.”
“I live in the greatest town, Pacific Palisades.” “I live in the greatest town, Pacific Palisades.” “I live in the greatest town, Pacific Palisades.”
And, in that moment, if they listen really carefully and somehow hear the sweet, quiet whistle of those dolphins …
A wave of good luck comes their way within seven days.
Maybe, just maybe, it could happen to you.
And, that, my dearest Palisades friends …
Is the Legend of Annabella & the Dolphins.
________
“The Legend of Annabella & the Dolphins”
’Round to the left
’Round to the right
‘Round to the left, once more
If you hear the whispering
Voice of the dolphins …
Good luck will knock on your door
________
P.S.: When we printed this story, we noticed some very “odd” coincidences. We noticed the photographer, Seda Silap, spells Palisades backward. Village Green just happens to include the word “revealing.” Annabella Strom’s family was in the deli business. Her name spells Mort’s backward. The day before we went to print, we kept hearing clicking and happy high-pitched whistle sounds in the office. Coincidence? You tell me …
Jimmy Dunne is a modern-day Renaissance Man; a hit songwriter (28 million hit records), screenwriter/producer of hit television series, award-winning author, an entrepreneur—and a Palisadian “Citizen of the Year.” You can reach him at j@jimmydunne.com or jimmydunne.substack.com.
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