The Sinking Boats

Once upon a time, there was woman called Cathy, she had long plated red hair tied up with anchor lopped through her left arm. She originally came from France with her parents. They moved to England when she was a child. They eventually settled in a place called Bournemouth to open a little French Café, serving French octopus dishes. During the week, she was a cook in the cafe. At the weekends, her life became far more interesting with her love of water sports - she was always along the sea edge.

One day, she found a boat abandoned by the road. Inside the boat a black cat had made its home. She took the boat along to a friend who resorted it for her as birthday present. Taking the cat home with her they lived happy together. One day in early August, the delivery from Calais was delayed due traffic on the bank holiday weekend. There was nothing for it but to go out in her little boat herself.

So, she set out in her boat to collect octopuses for that night’s menu. 20 minutes in to her journey, she encountered a rare baby red octopus. She scooped him up hoping to lure the large mother octopus closer to the boat. While waiting for the mum she started to smoke her pipe, finally the mum came closer, she went on one knee to grab the large red octopus. As she moved her weight around in the small boat, the boat capsized and started to sink.

It was just then, when she realised that she could not swim. For all her love of water sports she had not learnt to swim. While she panicked, she found herself going under the water. The cat climbed on to the upturned boat. Luckily, there was a pair of dolphins that swam by and bundled her up. As she pasted the boat she grabbed the cat. They took her back to dry land.

The menu for the café was without octopus but she was able to serve fish caught be local fish men. She then went home, and that night she started to save up for a bigger boat.