‘No.’ How could anyone use an animal this way? The bird had half of his red and green feathers missing. A chain around his ankle. He looked so miserable.

‘I’ll have a photo taken,’ Adam said.

I watched silently. Judgementally. I had thought Adam was kind. The man placed the bird on Adam’s arm and retreated, raising the camera in front of his face.

It was so quick. I barely registered what Adam was doing as his fingers worked at the chain around the bird’s ankles. There was a flapping of wings and a happy squawk as the bird rose into the darkening sky.

Adam grabbed my hand and we ran – the photographer’s angry voice chasing us.

A stitch burned in my side by the time Adam led me down a narrow walkway where I could have stretched out my hands and touched either of the whitewashed buildings that flanked us. At the end, there was a cove guarded by a chain fence. A smattering of padlocks clamped to the links.

‘Love locks!’ I rushed forward, delighted, tilting the padlocks towards the moon to read the names, the initials, the declarations of undying love. It felt good that, despite being dumped, there was still a small ember smouldering inside of me that believed in romance.

Adam strolled onto the beach and by the time I reached him, he’d shrugged off the shirt that had hung open over a T-shirt. He spread it over the sand before gesturing for me to sit. I slipped off my sandals and dug my toes into the damp sand. For a while we sat, listening to the crash of the waves rolling inland until we had caught our breath.

‘That was amazing,’ I said when the burning in my chest had subsided.

‘Maybe not,’ Adam said. ‘The bird is used to being given food and water. Being chained up. There’s a chance he might not survive in the wild but I reckon he’d prefer to take his chances than spend the rest of his days in that small filthy cage. Besides, he can always come back if he wants. If you love someone, set them free and all that.’