The back door flew open and Mona skipped down the beach. The light broke through the early morning mist, raining gold dust upon the breeze. She felt her skin prick at the brush of warmth. How glad she felt to be alive, upon this new stretched canvas. ‘What a day it will be,’ she thought, and unsure as to whether this was a question, she stared out at the sleeping cat that was the mainland. The world was asleep and this morning was her secret.

The beach was a giant sandy sheet, creased at one edge where a lazy sleeper had pulled its corners. Mona sat on a cragged rock, her legs tight under her, grains of sand itching between her toes. Behind her sat the beach huts – eyelids closed, swimming costumes hanging as dead skins on verandas. Already the warming ground was kicking up the damp smell of last night’s rain. The sea yawned and tugged at the shore, and feeling herself drawn with it, Mona sprang from her seat and ran into the water. It coughed and sneezed about her. Bless you. Bless you, her limbs replied. In spite of the early hour the water was surprisingly warm – maybe the sun had heated it when it dropped down like a glowing pebble the night before.

A man was powering through the sea, his palms carving out stretches of the ocean. Mona thought he might be some god who would drag her away from the familiar gold into a dark expanse of green. And as she looked at the wobbling shapes of her limbs, Mona thought how much she’d liked to be dragged out: the captive princess of some spirit, loved and drowned on the sea bed. The water was now up to her breasts and with every wave she felt herself do a small jump, as if the god was coaxing her out to sea. But as it grew deeper Mona became uneasy. Her toes were only just clipping the sandy bottom and Oh God, what was that? She looked down to see a striped dinner plate standing tall, balancing uneasily around her knees. The dinner plate waggled fins before spinning on the spot and hurrying away. And suddenly the water seemed terribly deep and murky, terribly threatening, a mass of bubbles and dirt flying up. There could be any number of them, all strange shapes and razor sharp colours. The swimming-man continued to work back and forth, so that Mona felt irritated both by his confidence and his inability to see – why didn’t he see the danger, the trap that she’d nearly been caught in? Her breaths dropped like pound coins from her mouth and she could taste specks of salt as she gasped. Then her feet sank thankfully into the soft, familiar sand.

The bungalow had an outdoor shower that looked out to sea. Emily let the steaming hot water drum against her head, before grabbing the curved, silver handle so that the surge died instantly. Perhaps she’d spend a couple of hours by the pool, she thought, before going on a boat trip in the afternoon. Or maybe leave the boat trip, because it would have to be arranged and her parents would be sure to ruin it. Why was there this insistence on doing everything together? She would want to sit on the side, feeling the haze of spray, her head thrown back, eyes squinting at the glare of sun. But Daddy would insist on them looking at things and Mummy would keep trying to talk to her as if somehow they were friends.

She watched Mona just sitting and looking. What was she always waiting for? Always staring. Like that time Daddy had taken them up in a hot air balloon for their birthday. Mona had just stood looking down in silence. How rude she had been, merely reassuring their father as they climbed out of the basket that she had had a wonderful time. Emily had hugged him and kissed him and made him take her hand, before talking about it all the way home. She couldn’t understand all this sitting about – I mean, how would you ever get noticed then? She wrapped a towel around herself, before hurrying back inside. She despaired of Mona, and the thought somehow dispatched her, as though the issue were settled now.

Tut tut, went the waves, playing at Mona’s toes. Tut tut. Flecks of light drew a line in the sand, which moved as the sea came and went. Tut tut. Mona dipped a toe back in the water, but could not bring herself to go any further.