Shared adventures · Pure
First light
Laura takes the boat out before the city wakes. Alfred comes along for the swim.
There is a version of the harbour most people never see: glass-flat, pale, empty except for the gulls and the odd rower. Laura has been going out in it since spring.
She leaves at six. Alfred, who is nine and claims not to be a morning person, is always at the jetty first. They go out a little way, cut the drive, and listen. Then he swims and she pretends the water is not cold.
By the time the city is awake they are back with wet hair and a secret.
