The Harbour Sketch

Harriet and Stanley are drawing boats at the harbour with their art class. Harriet chooses a small red boat beside the wall. She sketches its shape while Stanley draws the ropes. Their teacher stays nearby.

When Harriet looks up again, her boat has gone. There is only water where it was. “Did someone sail it away?” she asks. Stanley looks along the harbour, but he cannot see it moving.

They ask their teacher, Mrs Finch. “The tide is going out,” she says. “The boat may be lower than before.” Harriet stands up and looks over the harbour wall from the safe path.

The red boat is still tied to the same ring. It has dropped below the wall as the water has fallen. Stanley points to its rope. “That is why I could still see the rope,” he says.

Harriet adds a second small sketch to her page. She draws the boat lower down beside the wall. Stanley helps her mark where the water was before. Their two drawings show the change.

Back at school, they share their sketches. “My boat did not sail away,” says Harriet. “The water moved instead.” Stanley smiles. “Next time we will look at the tide before we start.”