We have to leave the sea monster. We have to leave the phone. I can hear Chaz’s footsteps coming down the grandstand. I run back to the corridor with the light. I can hear Pip right behind me.
‘Hey!’ Chaz yells from somewhere back there.
We get to the door. It’s much easier to push open when you’re not carrying a giant sea monster. We burst out into the carpark and run as fast as we can across the asphalt. Finally, panting, we make it to a tree where there’s enough cover from the nearby street light to feel like we can’t be seen. Only then do we let ourselves turn around.
I’m expecting to see Hugo and maybe even Chaz running across the carpark.
Only there’s no one. We wait. No one comes out of that side door.
‘Where’s Hugo?’ Pip puffs.
‘He must still be in there,’ I gasp. We look at each other for a moment and of course I know what I have to do. ‘Wait here.’
I scamper back across the carpark towards the door. I’m fuming. Typical Hugo! Not only does he wreck my plans but then he makes me come and rescue him too! He wasn’t even supposed to be here!
I open the door just a little and slip back inside, careful because I don’t know exactly where they are. I can hear some voices as I creep along the corridor towards the pool area.
Suddenly, light! Everywhere! It’s so bright I have to squint. Chaz has turned the big lights on and now the whole swim centre is lit up. It’s like daylight in here. Which means, as I stand cautiously peering out from the corridor, I can see what’s happened to our sea monster.
It has completely disintegrated into the pool. The paper we folded and stuck together has come undone and is floating all across the surface. The paper mache head appears to be melting, as the glue softens and spreads out into the water. The lights are reflecting off the glitter, which makes a huge area of the water appear to sparkle and glisten. And with all the coloured paper we used, the monster looks like it’s bleeding. The ink drains from each piece and spreads out into the water around it, turning the aqua blue of the pool into a giant rainbow mess.
And at the water’s edge stand Chaz and Hugo.
Chaz turns to him and his hands go from his head to his hips. His voice is stern. ‘Was this Max? Who did this with you?’ Before Hugo can answer, Chaz turns and calls out around the grandstand. ‘Are you here, Max?’
I shiver and step back into the shadows. That’s when I hear Hugo.
‘It was just me, Chaz,’ Hugo says. ‘I did it all by myself.’
Gulp.
