Kayaking (A Quiet Island)

There is one blue kayak out in front of the five red kayaks. The man in the blue kayak has curly shoulder-length black hair that sticks out of the sides of his small black helmet, a small silver hoop piercing in his right ear, and thick salt and pepper stubble over his face. The man makes his kayak turn around to face the red kayaks. He manoeuvres his paddle, holding his position in the water. He speaks to the teenage boys and girls in the red kayaks and they look at him with determined, happy, worried, happy, bored facial expressions. The teenagers in the red kayaks are finding it difficult to keep their kayaks under control. The man begins shouting a series of instructions, plans for how they will kayak in between the arches of the bridge, the plan being to make a figure of eight motion. This will help them to master the art of steering, the man in the blue kayak is shouting.

The teenagers in the red kayaks follow the man in the blue kayak as he begins the first figure of eight. All of the teenagers manage okay and the man in the blue kayak tells them they’re on their own now and need to do six more figures of eight before they can paddle back to the slipway and go on their lunch break. The man in the blue kayak sits in his kayak and looks up to the sky. It’s raining very lightly as he opens his mouth and feels the rain on his tongue. He checks that the teenagers are okay. The teenagers are okay. He pulls the arm of his waterproof jacket up a little and looks at his watch. He looks at the stonework of the bridge from as high as he can make out back down to sea level; a seagull is standing on some yellow foam membrane that has washed onto the wider, semi-submerged stone blocks that take the bridge’s supporting pillars down to the seabed. The man in the blue kayak watches as the seagull propels itself off the seaweed and into the sky. He checks that the teenagers are okay. The teenagers are okay. He pulls the arm of his waterproof jacket up a little and looks at his watch. The man in the blue kayak shouts, Good enough let’s go, let’s go.