THE MERMAIDS OF SANDY HILLS

The two girls sat opposite each other in the warm bath with the soles of their feet touching. Their mother gently closed the bathroom door and the girls waited until they heard the last of her footsteps on the stairs. Then Sarah, the eldest by two year, smiled at her ten year old sister Claire, and winked.

They could hear their father through the open window whistling softly as he pottered about the garden. Warm summer sunlight reflected off the water in the bath, dappling the walls and ceiling with leafy shadows. Both girls tried to hide their excitement, but neither could help smiling widely in anticipation

"Close your eyes and wish.", whispered Sarah. And with their eyes tightly shut both girls held their breath.

They did not move and the water was very still. Then, of it's own accord the water began to lap. Gently at first, then stronger and stronger, until it began to churn as if stirred by a boat's propeller. Sarah and Claire opened their eyes and giggled delightedly as the bath water foamed around them. Their eyes lit up as slowly their legs began to sink. It was as if the the bottom of the bath had opened. They reached over and clasped each others hands and gently they sank beneath the surface. Suddenly, just for a moment, two pairs of caudal fins broke the surface flapping and spilling the water over the rim of the bath. The fins waved in the air above the bath and then sunk below the surface.

"We're Mermaids again Claire!", squealed Sarah with delight as she swished her tail and swam under the bath alongside her sister. They looked up and saw the under side of the bath. It was unbroken, without a hole or a hatch. The rest of the house also looked normal, normal except that the bath and bathroom and roof above were transparent. Everything could be seen, but seen right through, just like looking at a house made of glass.

The two girl's, now transformed into mermaids, swam down through the house as if it were a huge fish tank. They swam down through the dining room where their brother Paul was spread on the sofa reading a comic. He was not transparent. They could see him, as they could see all the people, as normally real. People were distinct, only things were transparent. The two girl's called and waved to him just for fun, knowing that he could neither see, nor hear them.

"Come on Claire, we don't have much time remember.", said Sarah.

Each word that Sarah spoke came out of her mouth in a bubble and could only be heard when the bubble burst. It made communication a bit slow at times, even confusing if the bubbles burst out of order.

"Let me ride on your back Sarah", said Claire, her bubbles bursting in perfect order, " Your bigger than me and can swim faster."

Sarah, watching her sister's word bubbles burst, understood and helped Claire climb up.

They swam down through the carpet then through the pipes under the house, of which there was a maze, and down still further before they stopped to look back.

They could see the under side of Sandy Hills, all in transparency. It was like seeing houses made of shoelaces, except that all of the people were normal. There was Paul still on the sofa; mother in the kitchen; and dad just going into his small greenhouse, which was almost invisible because it was actually made of glass.

In the garden next door, beneath a Willow tree, Mrs Yates sat sipping tea and eating sandwiches. All this they could see through a maze of drainpipes and gas pipes and all manner of other pipes.

As they swam closer to the bottom they noticed something strange. The sea bed was not covered in sand and rocks and coral as they had come to expect. Instead it was completely covered with large tiles of a material that looked like marble, just like the marbled floor of a great hall, except that these tiles were not square, but had a wavy shape and were coloured brown; and every tile had a long narrow hump on it. The sea bed looked like a huge jigsaw.

"I've never seen a floor like that before", said Sarah as she let go of Claire and floated down onto one of the humps. She felt her tail fins tingle as she neared the hump and then when she touched it a small sting shot through the tips of her fingers. A big bubble burst from Sarah's mouth.

"Ow!"

She skipped to another hump, only to get another small shock "Ow!" she exclaimed again and hopped to yet another hump. The same thing happened. "Ow! Ow! Ow!", she cried hopping about confused by what was happening.

"I didn't know that you could do the jig?", bubbled Claire, mystified as to why Sarah should start dancing and hollering, but could think of no reason why her sister should not dance if she wanted too. It looked fun. She decided to join in. So twirling in the water above Sarah she cried, "Hoots Mon!", imitating her father who sometime did a jig at a party, "Hoots mon on a mon nic night"

Sarah, amazed at her sisters stupidity waved her arms attempting to convey her distress, but her wild gestures only convinced Claire even more that her sister was doing a jig. "Hoots Mon", she cried again. Sarah became so angry that she managed to swish herself away from the tiles that before she was too startled to do.

"Claire, what is the matter with you? I wasn't doing a jig. The tiles must be electric , I kept getting a shock or a sting, or something like that"

"Oh, sorry.", said Claire, and then frowning, "But how can they be electric? Wouldn't there have to be a plug and a socket and an electric lead and everything.?" ,

Sarah said "Yes, I suppose your right."

"Look there's an electric lead!", said Sarah pointing.

"Where?", asked Sarah hovering over her sister. Impulsively Claire reached down and took hold of the lead. Sarah made to stop her, but Claire did not get a shock.

"But there's no plug on the end of it", Sarah said, holding up the lead "It just runs to a point then stops. Sarah nodded in agreement and looked along the lead. It seemed fixed to a tile. Claire gave the lead a tug. Suddenly, as if a volcano had erupted the tile shot forward away from the ground pulling Claire after it. Bubbles burst from the girls mouth in a gasping stream. "Whaaaaaaaaaa!"

Thinking on her fin, Sarah sped after Claire and just managed to grab her around the waist. She forced up her head against the rushing water and looked beyond Claire. She saw two large, flat, wings flapping and propelling them through the water. 'It's a stingray!', She thought in alarm.

"Claire, Claire.", she cried, "Let go!", but her word bubbles streamed behind her and Claire could not see them. On and on they went until Sarah reached forward and pulled at Claire's hands to loosen her grip. Claire let go and the girls slowed and drifted exhausted to the real ocean floor. Then catching her sisters arm Sarah faced Claire and said,

"They are not marble tiles at all. The floor is covered with hundreds of stingrays all joined together. Look!"

The stingrays were disjoining from each other. They swam up in a procession from the ocean floor banking like aeroplanes and curving away into the distance. The girls watched in fascination until the the last stingray banked up and swam gracefully behind the others. Mesmerised the girls watched until the long line of stingrays disappeared into the murky distance.

"Trust mermaids to interfere with a fellow creatures sleep", said a voice.

They turned and saw a large blue-grey fish coldly looking at them.

"Who you are?", said Sarah, her third bubble bursting before her second.

"I am Tod the Cod.", said the fish looking down it's nose at the girls. "And precisely - who you are ?"

"My name is Sarah and this is my sister Claire, and we are mermaids"

"Good. It is very important that you know precisely who and what you are. Precision is the name of the game. I am a cod, Tod the Cod. You can see that I am a perfect cod by my shape. The perfection of my dorsal, caudal, and pectoral fins give the game away do they not? On the other hand you two are imperfect beings, neither one thing nor the other."

This annoyed the girls. "Just who do you think you are talking to!" said Sarah her bubbles sharply bursting.

"How feeble you memory is. A moment ago I told you who I am and already you have forgotten"

"I didn't mean that! I ment...em...I ment...oh, you tell him Claire!"

Tod the cod swam slowly around the girls and, adopting a school masterish air, said,

"If you did not mean what you said how can I understand you? You must say precisely what you mean. If meaning is not contained in utterance, the result is gibberish, your bubbles are babble, your purpose prattle, and your brains - must - rattle. Indeed your minds must be full of bilge and have no more content than a Pogges brain".

"What's a Pogge?" asked Claire.

"Mad. That is a Pogge.", answered Tod the Cod indignantly, "A disorganised and disorderly fish with a face like a mouse."

"How do you know that a Pogge looks like a mouse. You have never seen a mouse. You can't have. Mice live above the water."

"Water? What is water?, said Tod the Cod truly puzzled.

"Why it is the stuff we are in." said Sarah surprised that the cod did not know about water.

"The stuff we're in?", said Tod the Cod looking this way and that. "What stuff ? Are you calling me Stuff !"

"All this that surrounds us is water.", said Claire waving her arms about. Tod the Cod swam up and down and from side to side inspecting everywhere.

"There is nothing here but empty space. The region is empty except for us, a bare domain, a vacant vicinity, a zero zone, with nought in it but we three. A territory devoid of even address. The only thing here that we have plenty of - is poppycock!"

"But it's not poppycock!", said Sarah,

"Then show me", demand Tod the Cod.

Amazed by Tod the Cod's apparent stupidity the girls floated dumb. What did he mean - show him?

"Right, let's show him Claire?", said Sarah, and the girls began to grab the water. They tried to clutch it, hold it, grasp it. They did this for a full minute before they realised their own stupidity. Cringing with embarrassment Sarah said, "Oh, I could kick myself."

"You can't", said Claire.

"I can't? I can't what?', said Sarah puzzled.

"Kick yourself, you've got a mermaids tail. You can only kick yourself if you've got a foot."

Tod the Cod looked down his nose at them and said, "Mad, quite mad." And then with a flurry of his tail he swam off. Claire shouted after him, "Cod for supper!"

Sarah giggled and said, "Come on let's forget about him and explore that coral over there. It looks as if it's shining."

Sunlight filtered down onto the coral illuminating it's myriad colours. It looked like a giant broach bejewelled with every gem imaginable. As the girls swam around the coral its colours played over them, reflecting and shining off their bodies. Their eyes sparkled and their hair shimmered with the copious hues of the beaming coral. Their skin tingled with the changing colours and they giggled with pleasure. Suddenly something scurried beneath the coral and the girls swam down to see what it was. At first they saw nothing because a cloud of sediment had been thrown up. Slowly the cloud settled and revealed a pair of large eyes. They belonged to a small octopus.

"Hallo.", said Sarah smiling and peering into the shallow overhang.

The octopus looked behind himself, then, raising all of his tentacles, bar one to stand on, looked under his belly.

"What on earth are you looking for", asked Sarah.

The octopus repeated his actions then, looking wide eyed at the two mermaids, timidly said, "Are you speaking to me?

"Yes, I'm speaking to you. There's no one else under there, is there?"

"No, I suppose not"

"Well then", said Sarah.

"Are you sure that you are speaking to me?"

"Shouldn't we speak to you then. ", asked Claire.

"No... I don't think so".

"And why not?", said Sarah.

"Because I am a Lesser Octopus".

"A Lesser Octopus?", repeated Claire.

"No one speaks to a Lesser Octopus."

"Why are you called a Lesser Octopus?" inquired Claire.

"Because I am inferior"

"Inferior? You look all right to me."

"I have only one row of suckers", said the Lesser Octopus sadly. He raised up some of his short tentacles and the girls saw that he did have only one row of suckers.

"So what", said Sarah determined to raise the creatures sprits, "It doesn't matter. How many rows do other octopus's have?"

"Two. I'm deficient,"

"Your not deficient. ",said Sarah smiling.

"I'm defective then.", moaned the octopus.

"Come off it.", said Sarah," Aren't you being petty?" She immediately wish she hadn't used the word 'petty''

"Petty. Yes that's it! I'm petty."

"Is this where you live?" said Sarah hoping to change the subject.

"Yes. Cramped isn't it."

"Well, yes it is - under there, but you should be on top of the coral not under it.", said Sarah, "Come on, stop looking at the bad side of things."

"I can't help look at the underside of things; I'm small."

"I didn't say underside - I said bad side", said Sarah.

"Sorry", said the Lesser Octopus curling his tentacles over his head.

"Listen, why don't you come for a swim with us. It will cheer you up.", said Sarah beckoning.

"I'm too slow, I'd slow you up, I can't swim very well. I can't do anything very well."

"You are a sourpuss aren't you", said Sarah.

"A sour-octopus!" said Claire laughing.

The Lesser Octopus lowered his eye's.

"Right, that's it!", said Sarah, "I'm not having this. You come out from under that coral right now!"

The small creature looked up shyly and crawled out of his hiding place and sat down with his tentacles drawn under him and said, "I'm sorry, It's just that I'm not good enough to be seen swimming with two lovely mermaids like you. The other fish will laugh at you. It's all quite futile really."

Claire reached down and picked up the Lesser Octopus. She sat him on her back.

"Ooo!", he said.

"What's your name?, Sarah asked.

"I don't have one."‚

"Then we'll call you Lessy. Agreed Claire?". To which Claire nodded. "OK by you Lessy?". The octopus shyly grinned and nodded too.

Sarah took Claire's hand and the three of them swam up over the shining coral.

Before they had reached the other side of the coral a fish swam up to them, stopped them and said,

" 'ey! What do you fink you are doing?"

"What do you mean?", said Sarah.

The new fish cut the water with it's long snout and said sharply, " 'e can walk can't 'e?, said the fish looking at Lessy," 'e 'as eight legs an't 'e? 'e 'as no need to be carried 'as 'e?"

"What's it got to do with you?', said Sarah.

"'ark at her 'What's it got to do wiv you'. Indeed! Very 'igh and mighty haren't we. You've nuffing to act superior about. Why, look at you two - your nivver one thing, nor the o'ver. ", said the new fish in a very haughty tone.

"What a cheek!", said Sarah, "Who are you to criticise us".

"He's a Snipe fish.", whispered Lessy peeking over Sarah shoulder.

Claire saw what Lessy's wordbubbles had said and told Sarah.

"Wot's that!", snapped the Snipe fish, "Your a poor example of a octapus. Come 'ere Singlesucker's!"

"Don't be so nasty!", said Sarah protectively, her bubbles bursting loudly.

"Well, it's true i'nit? 'e has only one row", the Snipe fish stated officiously.

"Oh....you, you - crab!", cried Claire frustratedly.

"Crab!", screamed the Snipe fish almost jumping out of his scales. His quick movement stirred up a cloud of sediment which obscured him for a moment, then his snout protruded from the cloud like a stick from a curtain. He looked fitfully around and said in a trembling voice, "Where is it? Where's the crab?"

"What crab?", said Claire giggling. Sarah and Lessy were also laughing at the Snipe fish's sudden shock. He was obviously very frightened of crabs.

"You mean there's no crab?", said the Snipe fish, his officious tone now quivering,

"I 'ad a nasty experience wiv a crab once. It pinched me snout.", The Snipe fish resumed his officious air, and went on," But I dealt it a blow that sent it reeling, I can tell you."

"It pecked your snout.", said Claire.

"Yeh, you could say that. Me snout was as sore as anyfing for ages after. 'ow would you like it?"

"Oh stop griping, you sound like an old Carp", said Claire with a wicked smile, "Come on we'll all go and search for treasure."

"There's no treasure around here", said the Snipe fish, "There's nothing 'ere except sediment and shellfish".

"Quit quibbling big nose and follow us" , said Claire as she smoothly waved her tail and swam away. The Snipe fish huffed, but followed.

After a while the sea floor sank deeper. "I wonder how deep it goes" ,said Sarah.

"fausands of fathoms. Too deep for singlesuckers. 'e'll get squashed to jelly."

Sarah felt Lessy tremble. "Why don't you shut up Snipe. You're scaring poor Lessy"

"'ark at you. Poor Lessy indeed", replied the Snipe fish as it swam ahead a little.

Sarah looked at Lessy and winked. She slowly formed the word 'Crab' into a big bubble. She pushed the bubble gently so that it floated over Snipes head. The word in the bubble got bigger and bigger until it filled the bubble to bursting point. Then, Bang!

"CRAB!"

There was such a blur of movement from the terrified Snipe that his long snout went round like a propeller throwing up sediment everywhere. All manner of sea life was thrown about! Pilchards, Herrings, and Sprats flew this way and that; Starfish and molluscs showered the place; with shrimps and prawns pouring about.

But, strangest of all, small, round shiny objects span slowly all around them, flashing as they rose and fell. The two mermaids looked at them in surprise and yelled,

"Coins! Gold coins! Hundreds of them!"

The coins span amongst the living creatures in a golden cascade, each coin shining as if newly minted. As they fell Claire, Sarah and Lessy swam amongst them collecting as many as they could. Lessy was the most successful for he soon had a coin on each of his suckers and with his tentacles outstretched he looked like a golden star.

The Snipefish, annoyed that he had once again been tricked, decided to take his revenge on Lessy who, being outstretched, was in a vulnerable position. The Snipe fish placed his snout between Lessy's tentacles and span the small octopus around. Lessy let out a yell, but the Snipe fish kept spinning him until he looked like a golden blur of light. Claire and Sarah looked up.

"What's that a firework?", said Sarah.

Suddenly they realised what was happening. They dropped their coins and swam to Lessy's aid."

"Snipe!", yelled Claire, "Stop that!"

The fish took no notice and continued to whirl Lessy.

"Crab!" ,shouted Claire, but the Snipe fish did not stop.

"You can't fool me again", said Snipe breathlessly.

A voice just below him. said, "Yoo Hoo",

To see from where the unfamiliar voice came, the Snipe fish swivelled his eyes down. On a rock by his tail stood a huge crab with it's pincers open wide. Snipe screamed and sped away. All that could be seen of his swift departure was a narrow trail of froth.

The crab chuckled, waved to the mermaids, and wandered off.

Sarah and Claire waved back to the crab laughing, then set about slowing down Lessy. He was spinning so fast that they could not get hold of him. All they could do was wait until he ran out of momentum. Eventually his speed dropped and his stiff tentacles started to sag. Finally the gold coins dropped from his exhausted suckers.

"Poor Lessy", said Sarah as she put her arms around the dazed octopus, "You've gone all cross-eyed". She gently rocked him to and fro and after a while he said, "I feel better now thank you. The dizziness has completely gone. Yes, I feel much better."

"He feels better 'cos he's a go getter".

They all looked up to see who had spoken.

"I seen him spin an my eyes did ring.",

The fish that now came swimming towards them was snapping his fins and bobbing his head up and down as if to a musical beat.

"Rockings the name and rollings my game. How do you do I'm pleased to meet you. Now tell me why you span this guy? Let him hang loose an' choose his own juice, he got to rejoice with his own choice. Why, he got eight legs, so he never begs, let him do his own jive here in this dive". "What's he talking about?, bubbled Sarah.

" I think he's saying that Lessy would make a good dancer - I think", said Claire.

"Man oh man, he got it made, this is the kind of guy that will never fade. He bound to have style, so just let him smile. You dig me sisters?" said Rocking bobbing up and down.

"You hear that Lessy?", said Claire cheerfully, "That's a great idea. Rocking's right, with all your legs you would make a great dancer"

"That's right", agreed Sarah, "Come on Lessy have a go!"

Lessy looked around sheepishly, "Do you really think that I can?"

Sarah and Claire nodded enthusiastically.

Rocking shouted, "Let's do the Foam!"

"Do the what?", said Claire, Sarah and Lessy together.

"The Foam. It's a dance!" Rocking began to shake his whole body.

"Let's do the Foam!

Let's Foam, let's roam,

Let's bubble and boil,

Let's ferment and fume

And agitate the moon,

Let's seethe and churn,

Let's eddy and burn,

Let's swift and drift,

Let's do the Foam!".

The girls took Lessy's tentacles and began to jive. Lessy danced this way and that with the girls swimming under his tentacles. Rocking went crackers, flipping and flapping all over the place; singing,

"Do the Foam

Do the foam".

Lessy discovered that he loved dancing and shouted, "I'm as happy as a barnacle that's just found a boat."

The mermaids cheered, "Well done Lessy!"

Other fish heard the commotion and came to join in. They all swished and swirled in their collective jive. Rocking was singing so fast that his bubbles were coming out in batches.

"Yahoo!", shouted Claire.

"Help!", shouted Lessy when his tentacles became tangled.

"Oh sorry Lessy", said the girls and let go of the tangled tentacles. They all laughed and continued to bop to Rocking song:

"Let's dive and jive all round the hive,

Let's twang and pang,

Let's join the gang,

Forget about home,

Let's do the foam!"

"Do the foam!" , everyone echoed and yelled again and again until at last in one resounding chorus they ended with,

"Dooo the Foooaaammm - Ah!"

Everyone cheered and applauded.

The girls curtsied with Lessy who was the star of the show because he danced the best of all.

Rocking said,

"I'll say fair well, cos I cannot dwell; I'll say goodbye, other fish to fry - excuse the pun. I gotter run".

"Goodbye Rocking, thanks for teaching Lessy to dance", said Claire.

"No sweat pet", answered Rocking as he swam away still bopping and shaking.

"Well, I never knew that I was good at dancing", said Lessy breathlessly, "I never knew I was good at anything".

"You were always worthwhile Lessy. You just needed encouragement like everyone does", said Claire,

"Yes, I guess I did. Thank you, lovely mermaids. Now I must say goodbye and get back to my coral. But from now I'll sit on top of it instead of underneath, and there I'll practice my dancing.". And with that Lessy began to shoe-shuffle back to his home and all the other creatures called goodbye and went off. All exhausted, but happy.

"Well, that's that", said Claire.

Suddenly an object shot past them so fast that both Sarah and Claire shook in it's wake. Then the object turned and headed back towards them. The girls ducked and as the projectile passed it shouted, "Whoopeeeee!".

The girls watched mystified as the whizzing thing turned again and headed back towards them. They prepared to duck, but this time instead of rushing past in a blur of foam the fish slowed and stopped in front of them. It was certainly a fish, but unlike any they had seen before. It's body was covered in bony plates like armour and it's face resembled a mouse. Suddenly the fish stood erect as if standing to attention and smiled a strange cock-eyed smile.

"Goodbye and bad luck"

Claire and Sarah looked at each other puzzled. Claire said to the fish, "Don't you mean 'Hallo and good luck' "

The mouse-faced fish laughed and jumped about on it's caudal fin and said, "Well, I don't mind if I do."

"Do? Do what?", said Claire.

"Do!", said the fish angrily, " I don't mind if I do! I came as slow as I could, as soon as I didn't hear about the dance."

"Oh, I think I understand you. You mean, ' I don't mind if I do' in the sense of accepting an invitation to a dance. You're too late, the dance is over".

"Yes, it is.", said Sarah in support.

"Before we go any further will you tell us your name?", asked Claire quickly in case another verbal jumble started.

"Pogge is the name. I'm a merry little Pogge who upsets no one except me, but then I don't mind because I'm a Pogge and we don't mind if you don't mind, unless you do mind, then I might mind, if you get what's on my brain?"

"Oh, we've heard about you. You're the one whose mad.", blurted Claire who winced and could have bitten her tongue, "Not that we think that you are of course, it's just that someone said you are... sort of."

"Tod the Cod!", bellowed Pogge flipping over and burying his nose in the sand. Then in a nasal tone, "Cod stinks and so do you."

"We do not!", said Claire.

"You do. You stink of fish"

"Fish? How can you complain that we smell of fish when you are a fish yourself?", said Sarah.

"I am not a fish! I am a Pogge.", said the Pogge pulling himself from the sand and staring wide eyed at the girls.

"Yes we know that, but you're a fish as well. ",said Claire.

"Don't talk silly. How can I be two things at once?"

Claire looked down at her mermaid half. "Why do fish always seem to get into verbal confusions?', she thought. Before she could speak Pogge said, "What are you?"

"Well, we are mermaids; half human and half fish.", answered Claire.

Pogge swam up to Claire until his nose was half inch from hers and said, "Well then, I'm half Pogge and half fish."

"No you are not!", said Claire, her eyes going cross at the nearness of Pogge, "You are all Pogge."

"Then where is the fish?", said Pogge smiling and rolling his eyes.

"You are a fish and a Pogge. The two different words describe two different things about you", said Claire getting angry, "Now do you see - Mousehead!"

"Mousehead! Now I'm a Mousehead. You don't know what you are talking about. You don't even know what you are. First you say that your human and then you say that you are a fish; and then you call each other different names. You yourselves Mermaids, then you call her an Claire, and you call her an Sarah. That makes you three things and together six things. Where does it all end. It's a wonder that you aren't all tangled up", said Pogge very satisfied with his little speech.

Claire and Sarah looked at each other and being unable to answer Pogge, shrugged and said, "Are we mad. Yes I suppose we are", and the Pogge said, "I'm mad as well, if you are mad."

Claire and Sarah said, "Then we're all mad together", and they all joined hands and danced around singing, "We're mad, we're mad, we're all mad!"

"A dance!", shouted Pogge. And they spun around and around singing that they were all mad. Pogge got so carried away that his eye's jumped out of his head and started running around.

Claire screamed and said, "Oh, I don't believe this."

Pogge's eye's jumped back into his head and he shouted, "I can't stay I've got lots to see." And with that he shot off like a cannon-ball.

Claire and Sarah watched until Pogge was out of sight then sat down on the sea bed exhausted. So much had happen so quickly that they felt very tired. They stretched, lay down, they eyelids felt like heavy seashells.

As Claire lay there half asleep she heard a tiny clinking sound. She opened one eye to see what it was. Not far away she saw a small stack of gold coins. 'Now how did the coins get put on top of one another like that?', she wondered dreamily. What she saw next caused her to sit up and gape. A coin raised up by it's self, floated to the stack of coins and with a clink set it's self on top. Claire looked over to Sarah and called to her.

"What is it?", said Sarah drowsily, her words coming out of her mouth in long dreamy bubbles.

"Look over there the gold coins are setting themselves into a stack. Look, here comes another one." And indeed another coin came drifting towards the stack. "You see! All on it's own. Weird, isn't it?"

Sarah looked at her sister with a puzzled expression," What are you talking about? That fish is carrying the coin in it's mouth.""What are youtalking about?", replied Claire insistently, " What fish where?"

Claire was carefully watching the coin moving on it's own when suddenly from behind it a large round fish appeared as if from nowhere. "Oh!", she said surprised. Then as quick as the fish had appeared it vanished.

"Claire, the fish vanished just now then came back.", said Sarah rubbing her eyes.

Then they realised what was happening. The fish was so thin that to view it from the front it could not be seen, but to view it from the side it was clearly visible. One moment the coin was seemingly floating along on it's own, the next moment it was carried by a football sized fish.

Again the fish disappeared from Ann's angle, only to quickly reappear. Claire swam over to Sarah so that they could watch from the same perspective. The fragile creature placed the coin delicately on top of the growing pile.

As it did so the girls noticed that what at first they took to be the fish's eyes were in fact black circles about the size of a thumb on each side of its head. The black circles had golden rims. The markings sat about an inch behind the fish's real eyes which had in them, instead of the cold aspect common to most fish, a look of remarkable tranquillity.

" Hallo.", said Sarah hesitantly.

The fish placed the coin down and said,

"Hallo sweet mermaids. Can you tell me how my coins became so distributed upon the sea bed? Though I delight in my work, it takes so long to re-hord; and I have so many other tasks to perform for my Lord."

" I don't know.", said Claire lowering her eyes to cloak the lie.

"Are you sure?", said the fish in so gentle a tone that both girls cringed with shame.

"Perhaps your lapse of memory will end if you want it to?", said the fish softly.

The sisters held hands and nodded their heads. They explained what had happened and said that they were very sorry.

"Then you are forgiven.", said the fish.

"Who are you?", said Claire, her confidence now restored after telling the truth.

"I am John Dory. Let me tell you my story. Whilst swimming in the shallows off the shore of a far and distant land I saw a man resting near the water's edge. He was weary and cooling his cut and blooded feet in the water. I brushed his feet. He smiled an spoke to me thus:

'Have you travelled far like me young fish? In the occupation of my once trade I worked upon the waters and glimpsed the infinite variety of the seas domain. Since then I have seen the depths of another realm - that of Gods infinite wisdom. Now I must cast my nets to catch creatures of a different kind. I have to spread the word of God to even further shores and, though my faith is strong and I believe that the Lord will guide me, I am tired and hungry and have no money to buy food. I fear that my work will end before it has truly begun. What do you say young fish, what can I do now?'

The man stroked me gently as he spoke, and though he was hungry he did me no harm. His goodness flowed through me. I slipped away and swam to a sunken ship. I knew that its broken hull hid caskets spilling treasure; but even though bejewelled ornaments of every kind lay among the ships broken beams I could carry only one gold coin. Taking a coin in my mouth I swam back to the traveller. Upon my approach he saw the coin glitter and placing his forefinger and thumb on either side of my head he lifted me out of the water. He took the coin and blessed me. When he returned me to the water the marks of his touch remained."

"Who was he?", asked Sarah.

"His name was Peter.", replied John Dory.

"You mean St Peter?", said Claire.

"The same.", said John Dory smiling.

"But it couldn't have been", said Sarah in disbelief, "St Peter existed two thousand years ago. You can't be that old."

"I am one of many John Dory, and the many are one."

As if the fish's words cast a spell, suddenly all the water was full of John Dory. A huge tapestry of hundreds of fish hung before them. For a moment the fish remained visible then some turned so that a pattern formed in the living tapestry. The fish had arranged themselves into the face of Jesus and the girls fell back in wonder. Then the face dissolved as the fish rearranged themselves into another shape. An image of the planet Earth. The planet hung slowly turning as the fish swam round. Slowly the image dissolved changing into two smiling faces. Sarah and Claire gasped as they recognised themselves.

"Look! It's us!", cried Claire.

The girls were overjoyed at the sight of their faces drawn in living portraiture. Again the picture changed. The myriad fish shimmered, parted and coalesced in a moving tableau of colour. The new images moved into focus and the girls recognised their house with three people outside, a man, a woman and a small boy.

"It's Mum, Dad and Billy!", cried Sarah. And both girls waved as if the image were real, happy and delighted at the sight.

Again the pattern broke as the fish turned. Then the whole tapestry slowly vanished like light behind a closing door and he girls were left alone.

"I've never seen anything so beautiful.", said Sarah dreamily. Claire yawned and felt very tired.

"That's a good yawn.", said a voice behind them, "Almost as good as I can do."

The girls turned to see a large Basking Shark swimming lazily towards them. The shark yawned a tremendous yawn and Claire and Sarah felt even sleepier. The shark said, "I really ought to get some sleep. I like to sleep. I have wonderful dreams you see. The last time I slept I had a dream in which I was a giant sponge sleeping on a blanket of bubbles. Oh, I'm so tired."

"Yes we're tried too.", said Sarah, "We really must be getting home."

The girls looked up at the transparent houses. They could not recognise any of them. "I'm not sure which way to go.", said Claire.

"Oh, don't worry", reassured the Basking Shark, "I can find my way anywhere with my eyes closed. Hop on. I'll give you a lift."

The girls swung themselves onto the shark's wide back and lay down on it's large dorsal fin. The shark swung his tail gently from side to side and eased itself through the water. The girls felt as if they were being carried home on a huge moving mattress. As shark's tail swayed from left to right, his head nodded up and down in a slow slumberous rhythm.

Soon they past the bight bejewelled coral that they had first encountered and Claire said drowsily, "There's Lessy."

The small octopus was dancing on top of the coral like a prince who had found his kingdom. He saw the girls and called, "Goodbye Mermaids. Thanks for everything. Come back soon."

"Goodbye Lessy.", called the girls waving back.

The Basking Shark banked gently and in the distance the girls could see the underside of Sandy Hills.

"Home soon.", said Sarah.

"Yes, home soon.", repeated Claire.

And before long all they could hear was the gentle lapping of the bath water and the soft rustle of summer leaves.

THE END