STORY STARTER
Submitted by Evelyn Allen Vale
"Two go in, and one comes out" is the start to a dark nursery rhyme that everyone in the town knows.
Write a story which features this rhyme and its tale.
Riptide
A pair of children
Hand in hand
Skipping, tripping,
Through the sand
“A whale, a whale!”
The younger shouts
A rising, splashing, falling spout
The older tugs him towards the road
To the crumbling, humbling home
The two go in, the sun falls down
The sun comes up and two go out
A pair of siblings
Hands awry
Running, fumbling
Down the drive
“A boat, a boat!”
The younger cries
A puttering, scuttering tugboat replies
The older grabs the youngest hand
And drags him from scorching sand
Away from the splashing, crashing waves
Towards the peeling, squealing gates
Two go through, and two go out
Up the hills, and past the crowds
A pair of brothers
Hands on hips
Marching, darting
Bellow the cliffs
“A fish, a fish!”
The younger wails
Racing, chasing
Shimmering scales
The older shouts but isn’t heard
He leaves the rocks
The salty earth
The younger wades, halfway deep
The water dragging, grabbing his feet
The ocean was clear, the sky all clouds
When two went in and one got out