1.

I was concentrating so hard on the beep‑beep‑beep of the metal detector probing the ocean bed beneath me that I didn’t notice the shark. The little green light in the middle of the detector’s circular head winked in time with the beeping which, underwater, sounded more like blip‑blip‑blip. I floated above it, breathing slowly. The mouthpiece tasted rubbery. Silver bubbles swam lazily above me in gentle bursts. If the detector sniffed out metal – a bottle top, the tag of a broken zip, or an old coin, say – the blips would come closer together and the winking would go mental. Though I’d only turned up rubbish all morning, the idea that Amelia or Xander – both of whom were in the water somewhere nearby, conducting their own searches – or I might actually find what we were looking for was compelling.

Blip-blip-blip. 

Sand puffed up around the roving dector’s head as I swung it gently from side to side.

Blip-blip-blip-blip-blip.

I finned my way to the edge of a patch of sea grass and bobbed there for a moment, watching the green tips of the grass swaying in the current. A few metres beyond this underwater lawn the detector had picked up a metallic scent of some sort. I rooted about in a circle, sending up another billowing cloud of sand.

Continue reading here…