Somehow I had to extract myself from under the sand dune before the tide came up any further, then swim across the bay to join the others on the island. The tricky part was to push my way out of the sand without dislodging it and accidentally suffocating myself.

My parents were very interested to hear about my adventures when I returned to dry land. I was more curious to discover the nature of the illness that had reduced my father to a height of 3 foot. He told me that this was a symptom of heart disease. I found this hard to believe.