Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 20, for Sunday the twentieth of October 2024.

Afternoon Out

by Elizabeth Guilt

"Oh my god, oh my god, Bob's gone!"

"What?"

"He's gone! Just like that! Gone! Oh my god!" Harry snapped his pincers frantically.

"Calm down, calm down. He'll be back."

"He's gone! He saw a bit of food, and then just... Gone! Whisked away!"

"Stop panicking! This is always happening!"

Harry scuttled away in distress.

There was a distant splash, and Bob sidled nonchalantly over.

"Hey!"

"You OK?"

"Me? Oh, fine. Had a great afternoon. Lovely snack, then hung out in a bucket for a while with a couple of ladies. Beautiful shell, one of them. Did I miss anything?"

I was recently walking along the harbourfront in Whitby with a friend. Half a dozen families were dangling lines over the side, hauling up little crabs. The crabs aren't edible, and will eventually be tipped back into the harbour.

We spent our walk wondering what the crabs thought of the whole business.