On the far end of a windy pier in Brighton, Mara sold paper boats to tourists. She folded each one by hand and wrote a small wish inside. Most people laughed and dropped coins into her tin. Some people did not read the wishes at all.

One evening, when the tide was low and the sky was the colour of cold tea, a man bought a boat and did not smile. He wore a long coat even though the weather was mild. He asked Mara to write a wish for him.

“What kind of wish?” she asked.

“One that ends,” he said.

Mara did not understand, but she wrote, “Let this story stop.”

The man nodded once, paid, and walked away toward the sea. He did not look back.

That night, Mara dreamed of water climbing the streets like a careful animal. In her dream, it did not rush. It tested doors. It touched windows. It learned.

The next morning, the pier was quiet. A fisherman told Mara that a body had been found near the rocks. The man in the long coat. No one knew his name.

Mara tried to forget him. She folded more boats. She wrote kinder wishes. “Let my sister forgive me.” “Let my son find work.” “Let my pain sleep.”

But the dreams returned. Water learned new paths. Water learned to listen.

Three days later, Mara noticed something strange. Her hands were always damp, even when she stayed indoors. She washed them and dried them, but the feeling returned, like a memory.

She went to the public toilets on the pier and looked in the mirror. For a moment, her reflection blinked when she did not. For a moment, her reflection smiled when she did not.

Mara stepped back. The mirror was normal again.

She told herself she was tired.

That afternoon, a young woman bought a boat and asked for a wish.

“Write something honest,” the woman said.

Mara hesitated. Then she wrote, “Let me leave.”

The woman frowned. “That is not for me.”

Mara realised she had written her own wish.

She tore the paper and folded a new boat. But when she opened her tin later, she found the torn wish inside, neat and dry.

That evening, the sea was too calm. The surface looked like glass. People stopped to take photos.

Mara felt a pull in her chest, gentle but firm. She followed it to the end of the pier. She saw shapes moving under the surface, long and pale, like fingers learning how to wave.

A voice rose from the water. It was not loud. It was close.

“Mara,” it said.

She covered her ears. The voice stayed inside her head.

“We keep what is written.”

She shook her head. “I do not understand.”

“We keep what is written,” the voice repeated. “You asked us to stop. You asked us to learn.”

Mara remembered the man and his wish. She remembered her dreams.

“I did not ask you,” she said.

“You write,” the voice said. “We listen.”

The water touched the pier and did not splash. It climbed like a hand finding a wall. The glass surface broke into slow waves.

People screamed and ran. Mara could not move.

The water reached her shoes. It was warm.

“Why me?” she whispered.

“Because you finish things,” the voice said. “You end wishes.”

Mara looked at her tin of boats. She took one and unfolded it with shaking fingers. Inside was a wish she did not remember writing.

“Let me stay.”

Tears filled her eyes. “I do not want this.”

“Then write,” the voice said.

Mara dropped to her knees and pulled out her pen. The paper was already wet. She wrote slowly.

“Let the sea forget my name.”

The water stopped. The shapes under the surface froze.

“That is not an ending,” the voice said.

“It is,” Mara replied. “For me.”

She folded the paper and threw the boat into the sea.

The water moved once, like a long breath, then sank away from the pier. The surface broke into normal waves. The shapes disappeared.

People watched in silence.

Mara felt empty, light, and very cold.

The next morning, the pier was busy again. No one spoke about the water.

A new woman stood at Mara’s old place, folding paper boats. She smiled at tourists.

Mara walked past her and felt nothing pull her back. She could not remember the sea calling her name. She could not remember writing wishes.

She only knew that her pockets were dry.

Far out on the water, a small paper boat slowly opened, and the ink faded until there was nothing left to keep.

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Vocabulary Notes

Pier
Meaning: A long structure built over the sea or a river where people can walk, fish, or boats can stop.
Example: “On the far end of a windy pier in Brighton, Mara sold paper boats to tourists.”
Similar words: jetty, dock, boardwalk, wharf
Extra example: People walked along the pier to watch the sunset.

Tide
Meaning: The regular rising and falling of the sea level caused by the moon.
Example: “One evening, when the tide was low and the sky was the colour of cold tea…”
Similar words: sea level, flow, current (partial), movement
Extra example: The boats could not leave because the tide was too low.

Reflection
Meaning: The image you see in a mirror or on a shiny surface.
Example: “For a moment, her reflection blinked when she did not.”
Similar words: image, mirror image, likeness
Extra example: She stared at her reflection in the dark window.

Pull (noun)
Meaning: A strong feeling that makes you want to go somewhere or do something.
Example: “Mara felt a pull in her chest, gentle but firm.”
Similar words: attraction, urge, draw
Extra example: He felt a strange pull toward the empty road.

Surface
Meaning: The top or outside layer of something.
Example: “The surface looked like glass.”
Similar words: top, outside, outer layer
Extra example: The surface of the lake was very calm.

Fade
Meaning: To slowly disappear or become weaker or lighter.
Example: “The ink faded until there was nothing left to keep.”
Similar words: disappear, weaken, blur, vanish
Extra example: Her voice faded as she walked away.

Story written by ChatGPT.

Image created by ChatGPT.

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