Tavi paddled hard through Seaglass Coral Cove, his pale cream and coral pink shell wobbling behind him. Ahead, the bubble bridge arched over the cove like a row of shiny pearl beads, the only path to the shell market. Mira was already halfway across, peering down with bright eyes, and Luma floated beside Tavi, her gold glow blinking like a little lantern.
“We have to keep moving,” Tavi said, trying to sound calm and polite.
Then the bridge gave a tiny hop.
Not a normal wobble. A hop.
Tavi stopped so fast his shell bumped the water. Mira turned around. Luma’s tail curled in the air.
The bridge hopped again, then twice in a row, as if something underneath it had found a tickly spot and could not stop wiggling. The bubbles in the bridge trembled and chimed together. A few tiny silver fish shot out of the way in tight silver flashes.
Mira leaned forward. “That is not how bridges usually act.”
Luma glanced from Tavi to the far side of the cove. “We still need the market,” she said softly. “But I don’t think we should step on that if it’s doing that.”
Tavi looked at the quivering path, then at his friends, then at the other side he could not reach yet. The bridge gave one bigger hop, and the middle bulged up and sank down again.
He stopped paddling. So did Mira. So did Luma.
Now they were all looking at the same strange, bouncy place, wondering what was tickling it underneath—and whether Tavi would have to ask for help before anyone could cross.
What happens next?
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