The little boat had asked for a gentle ride.
A Very Small Passenger
Pip had passed the same shell three times.
The shell was pink and white, but Pip had hoped to see the lighthouse by now.
A wave lifted his paper bow and turned him towards the beach again.
“Not that way,” he told it.
The wave carried him past the shell for a fourth time.
“Having trouble?” asked a voice beneath him.
A blue head rose from the water. Pip tipped so far sideways that one corner of his little flag dipped into the sea.
“I’m trying to reach the harbour before the lighthouse comes on,” he said. “But the waves keep bringing me back.”
“I’m Bramble,” said the whale. “I could give you a ride.”
Pip inspected the damp edge of his hull. “A gentle one?”
“Very gentle,” Bramble promised.
The Gentle Ride
Bramble slipped below the surface. Pip waited while a shadow passed beneath him, longer than the little beach and nearly as wide.
Then Bramble rose to take a breath.
Pip shot into the air.
For one astonishing moment he sat at the top of a sparkling fountain, with the sea below him and a gull passing at eye level.
“This is higher than I expected,” he called.
“I’m sorry!” Bramble said. He swung his tail in surprise.
The resulting wave caught Pip as he landed and sent him spinning. The gull watched him complete two neat circles.
“Please don’t help quite so much,” Pip said.
Bramble held his tail still. The water rocked once more, then settled into smaller ripples. Pip’s flag drooped, but the paper beneath it was holding.
“Is anything torn?” Bramble asked.
“Not yet.” Pip looked up. “From the top of your fountain, I could see the harbour. We were facing the right direction.”
“That’s good.”
“The fountain itself needs some discussion.”
Left, Please
They made a new plan. Bramble would swim slowly below the surface, pushing a small swell ahead of him. Pip would ride it and give directions.
“And if I need to breathe?” Bramble asked.
“Tell me first.”
They set off. Pip rose and fell on the swell as Bramble moved beneath him. The shell grew smaller behind them; the lighthouse grew taller ahead.
“A little to the left,” Pip called.
Bramble turned. The swell bent with him, carrying Pip towards a cluster of rocks.
“Less left!”
Bramble corrected his course. A gull flew overhead, and its shadow slid across Pip’s deck.
“How is this?” Bramble asked.
“Much better.” Pip paused. “Are you nearly ready for a breath?”
“I am.”
“Then I’ll wait over here.”
Pip drifted clear. Bramble surfaced a short distance away and sent a fountain into the air. This time Pip watched every drop come down from a comfortable distance.
“Excellent warning,” he said when Bramble returned.
An Official Review
The lighthouse shone as they rounded the rocks. Beyond it, a sheltered patch of water lay beside a small wooden jetty.
Bramble slowed. The last gentle swell carried Pip towards the jetty, where he nudged a post and settled beside it.
“We made it!” Bramble said, keeping his voice low enough not to startle the water.
Pip unfolded the driest corner of his deck. On the inside, a child had drawn a star in blue pencil. He tore carefully along the fold and let the little star float towards Bramble.
“What’s this?” asked the whale.
“Your certificate.”
Bramble balanced it on the tip of his nose. “What does it say?”
“First voyage: successful. Smoothness: under review.”
Bramble crossed his eyes to look at the star. “May I apply for another voyage?”
“Certainly,” said Pip. “After my hull has dried.”
Livora Gracely ♥
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