Part Six of The Unseen Sea

Grandad Lucca is walking on the shoreline with his grandaughter, Jessica. The beach is made up, mainly, of pebbles, twinkling black and white in the morning sun, but here and there are wide patches of sand. It is on one of these that Jessica pulls Grandad’s hand, urging him to stop.

“Grandad?” she says in that lovely, innocent voice. “Can we play the circle game?”

He looks at the shining face, set amidst locks of golden hair. It is far too early in her life to play the real circle game, and he doubts he will still be around when it is not.

“Yes, of course we can play the circle game!” he says, kindly. “Do you remember how far we got with it?”

Jessica runs to get a stick she has spotted. Using it, she begins to draw a remarkably good circle in…