Chapter 12
He’d only seen coral reef on TV, on one of those travel shows Hannah liked to watch, but now he could feel the water on his skin. Sunlight filtered down from the surface of the ocean, warming his flesh and illuminating schools of fish. The coral was spectacular, brightly coloured and surging with the motion of the water. He swam to it, naked, but he didn’t get too close. People weren’t supposed to touch it, he knew, though he wasn’t sure why.
Was he dangerous to the coral, or was the coral dangerous to him?
He wanted to stroke it. He wanted to know what it would feel like against his skin.
There were voices now, which seemed to be coming from the ocean’s surface. He swam in that direction, toward the voices, and listened quietly while they conversed. Their words sound
