SINK OR SWIM

I can see a seagull who’s nearly within my reach.  I think I can catch this one and get him to talk to me.  I won’t hurt him, of course.  I only want to talk.

There must be a seagull who will talk to me and tell me how to do as he does.  Maybe this is the one!  So I run as fast as my legs will carry me – faster, even.  Mum’s calling, but I can’t ask her what she wants.  I’m a bit busy, which I expect she can see.

Pobbles is a big beach and the seagull and I are reaching the end of it.  Now he’s flying … and, wow, so am I!  Up and up I go – but he’s still high above me.  Why is he?

I’m soon finding out why.  I’m riding a great wave, while his wings have lifted him up towards the sky.  His feathers are dry, whereas my fur is wet and soggy and I’ve nowhere to put my paws. My bit of beach has disappeared and I … I’m frightened!

Where’s Mum when I need her?

Suddenly I’m standing on something.  This isn’t soft sand.  It’s hard and slippery and the sea’s all around me.  Waves are trying to knock me off my rock.  This is really scarey.

I can see Mum now.  She’s standing on a rocky ledge looking across the sea at me.  “Help!” I bark.  Then, in case she thinks I’m pretending, I bark again: “Help!”

How did I get here?  I don’t remember.  One minute I was running on the sand, and the next minute there was no sand … only sea, till this rock found me.

The seagull’s laughing – and I know who he’s laughing at.  He isn’t a very friendly chap.

Now Mum’s talking to a man.  The man has a dog that he seems to be leaving with Mum while he … wades through the water towards me.  I cling to my rock, thinking that perhaps the man will lift me from it and carry me to safety.

But I was wrong!  He has just pushed me off …

I’m now swimming towards Mum, up on her rocks.  I don’t mind swimming, but I prefer to feel beach beneath my paws.  Whatever happened to the beach?

“It’s the spring tide,” says my rescuer as he finally reaches Mum and me.  “The sea here can be treacherous after a new moon like last night’s.  So let that be a lesson to you, young Sam!”

“How did you do as you did?” Mum asks him, after expressing her thanks.  “I mean, weren’t you worried about drowning?”

“I waited for the seventh wave,” he tells her, as if this explains everything.  “That helps to minimize the risks.  But to be risk-free, Sam’s best bet is to forget seagulls’ antics and remember his doggy ancestry!”