‌Tank

Tuffin glues his face to the glass.

Tuffin’s tank is empty of fish, but there is a castle and shells and coral and a mermaid sitting on a rock and pebbles with numbers on.

Today, he has a new addition. A pebble from Deal with a number 11 on.

It joins pebbles from Folkestone and Hastings and Sandwich and Herne Bay and Camber Sands and Dymchurch and Beachy Head. They all have numbers on.

“Each rock marks the spot,” he thinks. Now Deal is in his tank –

• and the shells

• and the coral

• and the castle

• and the mermaid

and all the faces glued to the glass.

May 27, 2017

‌2018