I don't know why the seal's helping me, but I'm not going to complain. It moves so fast that I hardly have time to feel cold before we're coming up on the shore. I flop onto the stony beach and cough, and look around at the seal.

"Thank you," I say. "I wish I had something to give you." I look along the shore and see a small huddle of people, some standing in the water, some standing on the pebbles. "I wonder where I am."