You ran down the jetty and shouted "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea", and whoever got the most words out before they hit the water won. No one ever won. I once got as far as the second "The" but Kevin, the ref, said that my bum had gone into the water I got to "Of". We threw stones at each other, to miss.     

We were flinging water at each other. We'd stopped laughing cos' we'd been doing it for ages. The tide was going out so we'd be getting out in a minute. Edward Swanwick pushed his hands out and sent a wave towards me and there was a jellyfish in it. A huge see through one with pink veins and a purple middle. I lifted my arms way up and started to move but it still rubbed my side. I screamed. I pushed through the water to the steps. I felt the jellyfish hit my back; I thought I did. I yelled again; I couldn't help it. It was rocky and uneven down at the seafront, not like the beach. I got to the steps and grabbed the bar.     

I got onto the second step. I looked for marks. Jellyfish stings didn't hurt until you get out of the water. There was a pink lash on the side of my belly; I could see it. I was out of the water.     

I lifted my T-shirt to make sure the mark was still there. I thought it wa beginning to get sore. I wrung out my togs over the railing.     

I ran all the way, up Mertonside Road, all the way up, past the cottages where there was a ghost and an old woman with a smell and no teeth, past the shops; I started to cry when I was three gates away from my our house; around the back, in the kitchen door.     

Ma was feeding the baby, "What's wrong with you?"     

She looked down for a cut on my leg. I got my T-shirt out to show her. I was really crying now. I wanted a hug, an ointment and a bandage..