We were still heading away from the private beach, the staff on the sand were dots in the distance.

‘Shouldn’t we turn back now, Dad?’

He only smiled and carried on rowing, ‘Just a little further.’

Should I be panicking? This wasn’t some mad attempt at reaching another country, was it?

‘I’ve had enough, Dad. People will be worrying about us.’ I tried to see where the hospital staff were. Why was no one coming after us?

‘Trust me,’ he said, ‘I should have timed it right.’

‘Timed what right?’ I asked. No wonder they locked him up.

He stopped rowing. ‘Just wait a moment.’

We sat bobbing on the calm sea. ‘Dad, you’re scaring me.’

He smiled and then pointed, ‘Here they come.’

The sea began to chop and churn, the boat rocked a little more. I looked round and saw something break the surface, a tail of some kind. Then another, then a face appeared. I looked round, our small boat was surrounded.

‘You see, they do exist,’ Dad beamed.

Written as part of Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers. The challenge is to write a flash fiction story or poem in around 175 words, based on the weekly photo prompt. Thanks as always to the challenge hosts Priceless Joy and Joe. For more information visit HERE.

To read other stories based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.

My new novel, ‘A Justified State,’ is now available in Paperback and on Amazon Kindle.

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