Elodie's POV
By mid-afternoon, the sun is started its slow slide toward the horizon, and the adults realise that it’s time to head back, as the ship will set sail again before dinner.
'Time to pack up,' I call, and the expected protests rise immediately from the children.
'Five more minutes,' Callie pleads, her still skin glistening with salt from the ocean.
'You said that twenty minutes ago,' I remind her, gently but firmly, and she huffs a small, theatrical sigh before finally abandoning the hole that she, Felix and Ayla have been working on for an hour, trying to reach China.
We gather everything methodically, towels shaken free of sand, buckets and spades collected, sunscreen and snacks packed carefully away, and the whole group makes its way back up the beach toward the port, Cal
