My Idea Not My Boat

The three baby maugean skates all have different opinions.

It must be a cabbage, says one.

It could equally be a lettuce, says the second.

Or a fish, says the third.

A wonky sort of fish, says the first one.

Well, it's not like there are no wonky fish, says the third one.

I go for cabbage, says the first one, and it's wonky at one end because it's coming out of a sock.

THAT cabbage! says the second baby skate. And that sock!

Exactly, says the first one.

What about the arrow? asks the third one.

Maybe someone wants it back, says the first one.

Yes! says the second one. And the arrow is pointing to them!

We should follow it, says the third one.

It's not moving, says the first one.

But it's pointing, says the third one. 

Okay, say the first and second baby skates. Let's go.

They skate off in the direction the arrow is pointing.

Unfortunately, it's pointing away from the shore.

Can you see anything? asks Terence.

Yes, says Roo-kai. More ripples and the paper boat's rocking.

Told you, says Terence.

I'll take a look, says Roo-kai.

He flies up and over the paper boat in time to see the three baby skates speeding away.

Where are they going in such a hurry?

He follows them.

One of the baby skates spots him.

Stop! says the baby skate to the others. Look up there. We're being followed.

It's an oystercatcher, says one of the others. 

Maybe it was his cabbage, says the third one.

Or his sock, says the second.

As if, says the first one. But it might be his paper boat. Why don't we ask him.

They stop. 

Roo-kai flies down and lands in the water nearby.

I didn't intend to intervene in this, says Roo-kai. 

In what? asks the first baby skate.

This whole thing, says Roo-kai. But since the paper boat was my idea, I feel I ought to.

It's your paper boat! says the first one. I knew it!

It's my idea, says Roo-kai. Not my boat. The boat belongs to Terence, who is waiting for you on the shore.

Is he a science guy? asks the second baby skate. Because if he is we're not going.

He only wants to count you, says Roo-kai. 

There are three of us, says the second baby skate. You can tell him.

Has he lost a sock with a cabbage leaf inside it? asks the first one.

Not him, says Roo-kai. But he knows the person who lost it.

Hmm, say the skates.