Two Watery Faces

Terence lies at the bottom of the rock pool, facing upwards.

He sees the watery face of Claudine, with a frowning expression.

It vanishes. 

He sees the watery face of Alfonse, grinning. 

Then it too goes.

Terence supposes that they will tell Louisa and Perrot, and one of them will reach in and pull him to the surface. 

He'll be rescued!

Time ticks by. It's slow in the water.

Sea water gurgles in and out of the rock pool.

Maybe the tide will go out. Then he'll stand up and climb out of the rock pool.

Like that time when he fell into Lake Geneva, off Oscar's bike.

And Oscar ( his blood brother) swam to the surface, but Terence couldn't.

And he had to wait at the bottom.

And who should come by but a Wall-eye, which was a fish that lived in Lake Geneva.

And it showed him the ladder.

And then asked more Wall-eyes to help Terence get to the ladder.

And Terence climbed up it.

And there was Oscar. With some Chinese tourists.

Who took him to the Palais de Nations, which was where Vello and David found him, being looked after, and dried.

That was a good sort of rescue.

But what about now?

No ladder. No Wall-eye. No Louisa. No Perrot. He might lie here forever, turning into a coral.

His little chin trembles.

But guess what? Wrongly has seen him fall in.

Not the first Wrongly, the second Wrongly, the one that he waved at.

The second Wrongly plops into the water.

Glides down gracefully.

Shoves a furry face right up against the little cement face of Terence.

Yay! Beam me up, says Terence.

You deserve to stay down a bit longer, says the second Wrongly.