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Authors: Michael Morpurgo
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âBut he was only exaggerating, dear,â said Williamâs mother. âHe didnât mean . . .â
âI know what he meant,â said his father. âAnd itâs your fault, like as not, telling him all these wild stories and putting strange ideas in his head.â
William looked at his mother in total disbelief, numbed by the realisation that she too doubted him. She smiled sympathetically at him and came over to stroke his head.
âHeâs just exaggerating a bit, arenât you Billy?â she said gently.
But William pulled away from her embrace, hurt by her lack of faith.
âI donât care if you donât believe me,â he said, his eyes filling with tears. âI know what happened. I can swim I tell you, and one day Iâll swim away from here and never come back. I hate you, I hate you all.â
His defiance was punished immediately. He was sent up to his room and as he passed his fatherâs chair he was cuffed roundly on the ear for good measure. That evening, as he lay on his bed in his pyjamas listening to the remorseless ker-thump, ker-thump of the haybaler outside in the fields, William made up his mind to leave home.
His mother came up with some cocoa later on as she always did, but he pretended to be asleep, even when she leant over and kissed him gently on the forehead.
âDonât be unhappy, Billy,â she said. âI believe you, I really do.â
He was tempted at that moment to wake and to call the whole plan off, but resentment was still burning too strongly inside him. When it mattered she had not believed him, and even now he knew she was merely trying to console him. There could be no going back. He lay still and tried to contain the tears inside his eyes.
Every afternoon after school that week William went back down to the beach to swim. One of his brothers must have said something for word had gone round at school that âLimping Billyâ claimed that he had been swimming with the seals. He endured the barbed ridicule more patiently than ever because he knew that it would soon be over and he would never again have to face their quips and jibes, their crooked smiles.
The sea was the haven he longed for each day. The family were far too busy making hay to notice where he was and he was never to speak of it again to any of them.To start with he kept to the green pool in the rocks. Every afternoon his seal would be there waiting for him and the lesson would begin. He learnt to roll in the water like a seal and to dive deep exploring the bottom of the pool for over a minute before surfacing for air. The seal teased him in the water, enticing him to chase, allowing William to come just so close before whisking away out of reach again. He learnt to lie on the water to rest as if he were on a bed, confident that his body would always float, that the water would always hold it up. Each day brought him new technique and new power in his legs and arms. Gradually the seal would let him come closer until one afternoon just before he left the pool William reached out slowly and stroked the seal on his side. It was gesture of love and thanks. The seal made no immediate attempt to move away but turned slowly in the water and let out a curious groan of acceptance before diving away out of the pool and into the open sea. As he watched him swim away, William was sure at last of his place in the world.
With the sea still calm next day William left the sanctuary of the pool and swam out into the swell of theocean with the seal alongside him. There to welcome them as they neared the island were the bobbing heads of the entire seal colony. When they swam too fast for him it seemed the easiest, most natural thing in the world to throw his arms around the seal and hold on, riding him over the waves out towards the island. Once there he lay out on the rocks with them and was minutely inspected by each member of the colony. They came one by
âBut he was only exaggerating, dear,â said Williamâs mother. âHe didnât mean . . .â
âI know what he meant,â said his father. âAnd itâs your fault, like as not, telling him all these wild stories and putting strange ideas in his head.â
William looked at his mother in total disbelief, numbed by the realisation that she too doubted him. She smiled sympathetically at him and came over to stroke his head.
âHeâs just exaggerating a bit, arenât you Billy?â she said gently.
But William pulled away from her embrace, hurt by her lack of faith.
âI donât care if you donât believe me,â he said, his eyes filling with tears. âI know what happened. I can swim I tell you, and one day Iâll swim away from here and never come back. I hate you, I hate you all.â
His defiance was punished immediately. He was sent up to his room and as he passed his fatherâs chair he was cuffed roundly on the ear for good measure. That evening, as he lay on his bed in his pyjamas listening to the remorseless ker-thump, ker-thump of the haybaler outside in the fields, William made up his mind to leave home.
His mother came up with some cocoa later on as she always did, but he pretended to be asleep, even when she leant over and kissed him gently on the forehead.
âDonât be unhappy, Billy,â she said. âI believe you, I really do.â
He was tempted at that moment to wake and to call the whole plan off, but resentment was still burning too strongly inside him. When it mattered she had not believed him, and even now he knew she was merely trying to console him. There could be no going back. He lay still and tried to contain the tears inside his eyes.
Every afternoon after school that week William went back down to the beach to swim. One of his brothers must have said something for word had gone round at school that âLimping Billyâ claimed that he had been swimming with the seals. He endured the barbed ridicule more patiently than ever because he knew that it would soon be over and he would never again have to face their quips and jibes, their crooked smiles.
The sea was the haven he longed for each day. The family were far too busy making hay to notice where he was and he was never to speak of it again to any of them.To start with he kept to the green pool in the rocks. Every afternoon his seal would be there waiting for him and the lesson would begin. He learnt to roll in the water like a seal and to dive deep exploring the bottom of the pool for over a minute before surfacing for air. The seal teased him in the water, enticing him to chase, allowing William to come just so close before whisking away out of reach again. He learnt to lie on the water to rest as if he were on a bed, confident that his body would always float, that the water would always hold it up. Each day brought him new technique and new power in his legs and arms. Gradually the seal would let him come closer until one afternoon just before he left the pool William reached out slowly and stroked the seal on his side. It was gesture of love and thanks. The seal made no immediate attempt to move away but turned slowly in the water and let out a curious groan of acceptance before diving away out of the pool and into the open sea. As he watched him swim away, William was sure at last of his place in the world.
With the sea still calm next day William left the sanctuary of the pool and swam out into the swell of theocean with the seal alongside him. There to welcome them as they neared the island were the bobbing heads of the entire seal colony. When they swam too fast for him it seemed the easiest, most natural thing in the world to throw his arms around the seal and hold on, riding him over the waves out towards the island. Once there he lay out on the rocks with them and was minutely inspected by each member of the colony. They came one by
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