“What’s that?” Ava turned the paper into the orangey light so she could see it better. “Is it a jellyfish? It’s really good.”

“It’s the cushion,” said Finn reproachfully. “The round one with the… ”

“… button in the middle. The one that used to be in the middle of the sofa. Sorry, of course it’s the cushion, I can see it now. It was just the frill around the edge.”

Finn looked critically at his drawing. “It does look a bit like a jellyfish.”

“It doesn’t look anything like a jellyfish. Once you put the button on, you’ll see.”

Finn put his drawing back under the bed and looked into Ava’s face. “Where do you think the cushion is now?”

Ava looked back at him wordlessly.

“Because I had a dream last night,” he said. “Everything from our old house was washed out to sea. A big wave came and it went right over the house, and it was all floating away.”

“Was it a frightening dream?”

Finn thought about this. “No,” he said. “I think all our stuff was quite happy about it really. It was going on an adventure.” He hesitated. “So, maybe one day it can all come back to us. Like when things get washed up on the tide. Not boring stuff like wardrobes and tables and things. Just – you know – the important things.”

“Like the cushion,” said Ava.

“And the books.”

“And those brown mugs with the white tops.” Ava sighed.

“And the knives with yellow handles.”

“And the biscuit tin.”

“What biscuit tin?”

“You know,” Ava said. “The one with the picture of Winston Churchill.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“Yes, you do. It used to be at Gran’s, we got it when she died.” Finn looked blank. “It had his picture on the lid, you must remember! He’s sort of old, and fat, and bald.”

“Is that who it was?” said Finn, amazed.

“Gran used to keep mini-rolls in it.”

“I don’t remember that either.”

“Maybe you were too little. But that’s okay,” Ava added hastily, seeing his face. “You don’t need to remember everything, neither of us do. We’ve got each other. If we each remember different things, we won’t ever forget anything important.”

“I was thinking,” said Finn. “When we live by ourselves, maybe we could live by the sea. Near the beach. Our beach.”

“I don’t know, Finn. They might not let us go that far to start with.”

“But in the end.”

“And it’s expensive. Everyone wants to live by the sea, the houses are all really… ”

“Could we live in just one room?” asked Finn.

“Could we what?”

“I bet we could live in just one room,” said Finn.

“I don’t think so. You need a kitchen and a bathroom and a bedroom each and a living room. That’s five rooms just to start with.”

“I bet we could live in a beach hut,” said Finn.

“A beach hut?”

“We could build it ourselves. It can’t be very hard. They’re only made of wood.”