The Boat Comes In

The morning boat tied up at Stromness. Polly stepped onto wet stone. The wind did not stop. A collie sat on the pier. "Can you show me the way?"

She did not know where to go yet. There are about seventy islands. Only about twenty have people. "Could you tell me where I can catch a bus?" she asked.

"How long does it take to walk to the city center?" The collie looked at the one narrow street. Eleven minutes, he said.

"Can you tell me if there are any interesting events today?" The boat times are the news here, he said. There is a chapel built by prisoners. There is a village under the sand.