7.35 a.m.
The octopus outside my window waved at me. I waved back.
7.55 a.m.
Breakfast: seaweed.
8.20 a.m.
Wetsuit – check
Aqualung – check
Homework – check
Shield – check
Goodbye, Mum – check
Goodbye, Dad – check
8.25 a.m.
Decompression chamber.
8.26 a.m.
Doors open.
8.27 a.m.
Swim to school.
Thinking:
Why didn’t they build this underwater city so that homes and schools were joined up?
Then we wouldn’t have to swim to school?
Then remembered our headteacher Miss Cavani saying that the Health Minister said that forcing all children to swim to school was good exercise and good that we all learnt to swim.
8.28 a.m.
Then remembered that she said that it was also good that we learnt how not to get eaten by sharks.
8.29 a.m.
Glad that I have a shark shield. Just in case.
8.30 a.m.
Thought about school motto: Sharks have as much right to live as we do.
8.35 a.m.
See new sign on the way to school: DON’T PICK THE CORAL
8.36 a.m.
My friend Finula swims alongside me. We talk in USL.
(Underwater Sign Lanuage)
She says that her bedroom is leaking and her homework is spoiled.
I say that sounds like a good excuse –better than saying that the octopus ate my homework. She says, but it’s true, it is leaking. I say that my dad’s got a screwdriver, maybe that would help. Finula says her dad’s got some glue.
It’s fish-glue. We pretend to hold our noses but of course we can’t because they’re behind our face-masks. Laugh – laugh – laugh in USL.
8.40 a.m.
Lots of herring swim by.
8.41 a.m.
Lots of cod.
8.45 a.m. School.
Big queue at the decompression chamber. The boy we call ‘Crab’ tries to get in sideways.
8.50 a.m.
Check timetable:
Lesson 1
Language: Jellyfishish
Lesson 2
Geography: Underwater London: what’s left.
Break time: swimming in the indoor pool without aqualungs.
Lesson 3
History: 2900 – The Arctic–Antarctic Conference on what to do when there is no Arctic or Antarctic.
Lunch time: seaweed.
Or weed collected from the sea.
Lesson 4
Maths: Water problems. How much water is in the sea?
Lesson 5
Chemistry: What is water?
Lesson 6
Philosophy: What if water wasn’t water?
Home time.
3.45 p.m.
Swimming home with Finula. She says that Crab said that he likes her.
Finula says that she said to him that she’s busy making a film. It’s going to be called: Fish and Ships.
4.00 p.m.
Home.
Snack from the fridge: sea weed.
4.05 p.m.
Watch fave show on my wrist-watch.
It’s called:
‘Mum! Mum! I Keep Herring Things in My Ear!’
5.00 p.m. Dad back.
Says he lost a flipper on the way home. Kept swimming round and round in circles till he got the hang of swimming with one flipper.
5.30 p.m. Mum back.
Says she found a flipper on the way home.
5.45 p.m.
Dad cooks tea. Seaweed.
7.00 p.m.
Do homework.
Trying very hard to learn my Jellyfishish.
‘Floop n flahp. . .flip n flype. . .ffff. . .fweeee. . .fwoooo. . .flopf lopf.’
That means
‘Can I borrow your wrist-watch?
I’d like to watch
“Mum! Mum! I Keep Herring Things in My Ear!”.’
7.30 p.m.
Finula’s dad turns up outside, bangs on the window.
Tries USL but he’s not very good at it.
Dad thinks he’s saying, ‘I saw a codfish playing football in my fridge.’
I explain to Dad that I think Finula’s dad wants to borrow
his screwdriver.
Dad says, ‘Tell him that I lent it to a dolphin who was mending his speedboat.’
I say that in USL.
Finula’s dad says back, ‘I’ve got enough seaweed, thanks.’ and he goes.
9.00 p.m.
Late night snack: Seaweed.
9.20 p.m.
Bed.