One sea, two sisters, a thousand little adventures.
Two Directions
“There,” said Elin.
“There,” said her sister.
Their hands pointed towards opposite ends of the reef.
Elin looked at Mara. A strand of her younger sister’s golden hair drifted across their joined hands.
“Our palace,” she said.
“I know.”
“By the flat rock.”
“Under the arch.”
They had come to see it once more before Mara helped Elin carry the last of her things to her new home beyond the eastern reef.
Elin had thought this would be the easy part of leaving.
Mara loosened her hand.
“You’ve forgotten.”
“I haven’t.”
They looked along the reef again. At one end, pink coral curved above a little patch of sand. At the other, a broad, flat stone caught the afternoon light.
“Let’s look at yours,” Elin said.
Under the Arch
Mara went through the coral arch first. Elin followed, drawing her long copper hair over one shoulder.
Inside, the sand was marked with small ripples. Their tails stirred a pale cloud near the entrance, and they waited for it to settle.
“This was the door,” Mara said. “You had to ask before coming in.”
“You never asked.”
“I lived here.”
Elin looked up at the arch. A shallow hollow ran along one side.
“You kept something in there.”
“My royal jewels.”
“Three shells and a pebble.”
“The pebble was important.”
Elin reached towards the hollow, then left her hand resting against the coral beside it.
She remembered Mara arriving with both hands closed, refusing to show her what she had brought until Elin promised to bow.
“You made me bow twice.”
“You didn’t do it properly the first time.”
Mara’s mouth lifted. She fitted her hand into the hollow, where her whole little collection had once disappeared.
Now only her fingers fitted.
The Other Palace
At the flat rock, Elin settled beside a low ledge.
“My crown fell behind here.”
Mara came closer.
“The one that kept slipping?”
“You said it looked grand.”
“It did. When you held it on.”
Elin bent to look behind the ledge. There was only sand and a small piece of broken shell.
“You went round the back to find it,” she said.
“And you wouldn’t get off the throne.”
“I was the queen.”
“You were sitting on my tail.”
Elin laughed. Mara put one hand over her mouth, then gave up and laughed too.
For a while, they stayed beside the rock, remembering the crown that had needed two hands and the royal feast they had forgotten to bring.
Then Mara glanced towards the arch.
“We moved here after that.”
“After what?”
“You said the old palace needed a treasure room.”
Elin looked back across the sand.
“And you said this one had nowhere to keep the pebble.”
Mara nodded.
They had left a queen’s throne for a hollow in the wall.
Elin brushed her fingers over the flat stone.
“I’d forgotten we moved.”
“I’d forgotten why.”
One More Visit
The light had grown softer when they turned towards home. Mara found Elin’s hand again.
“Will you come back next week?”
“I can come on Sunday.”
“For the whole day?”
“Until late afternoon. I need to be back before evening.”
Mara watched their tails pass over the pale sand.
“Will you like it there?”
“I think so.”
After a moment, Elin added, “You’ll have to visit. There’s a window where you can see right over the reef.”
“Does it have a hollow?”
“I haven’t checked.”
“You should.”
Elin squeezed her hand.
“Sunday,” she said. “I’ll meet you at the arch.”
Mara looked towards the little entrance they had both grown too tall to pass through without bending.
“We still haven’t done the third palace.”
Elin stopped.
“There was a third?”
Mara drew her gently onwards.
“You can ask me on Sunday.”
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