Finn Takes a Holiday but still Manages to Explore The Relationship Between Electricity and Salt Water

For days daft dad had been singing "Oh we do like to be beside the seaside" to Finn. His tinyness had assumed this was part of the usual repertoire of bizarre songs that dad sang but now, as the car pulled up at a point that did indeed seem to be beside the seaside, he furrowed his brow and prepared for a new experience.

"Everybody's here!" said dad, looking at the huge queues at both chip shops.

"Well last time it was November" pointed out mum with a smile.

A short while later, as the sky darkened and huge clouds massed, the car stopped again.

"Bet it's not so packed here" said dad "Not with the power station on the horizon."

Finn found himself strapped to dad's front and then they were off. Mum and dad huddled under their umbrella as large drops began to fall. By the time they reached the beach most people were heading the other way.

"Look at that" said mum pointing at a lovely curve of colour that hung in the air above the bay. "A rainbow."

But almost as soon as it appeared the rainbow vanished. Everything went dark and it began to pour.

"Let's get under here!" said dad, ducking beneath the overhanging roof of a shed. There was just enough room for the three of them. A bedraggled man, his long hair dripping, laughed at the sight and called out - "Surely time for an ice-cream?"

Dad smiled then said something under his breath that Finn didn't quite catch.

"It'll be over in a minute and then we'll have our walk."

Finn watched as lightning ripped the air. He listened to the clouds as they crashed together, groaning and rumbling furiously. Rain lashed the pebbles and ran off the roof of the hut in small streams. From time to time a dog walker came off the beach smiling ruefully, soaked to the skin, a sopping mutt with a thousand yard stare in tow.

After a while it did stop raining.

"Right Finn - this is the sea!"

Dad held our tiny titan up, muttering about ancestral voices and sailing scotsmen, so that he could look out over...

...what? A huge expanse of grey green that undulated into the distance. Where this "sea" met the land there was an interesting sound effect. It was a bit like the sound of wind through trees but there were elements of bathtime in there too.

They stared at the horizon where the rain still slanted from the bellies of black clouds. On the shore Finn saw a large building with a white dome. As previously discussed the head is big but the brain is (so far) small and yet the little one has other means of gathering knowledge at his disposal. He sucked his fingers.

Seawater.

Lightning.

Then the sun blazed down as the last of the cloud blew out to sea.

"Oh that's the nuclear power station" said dad. "It's a great way of making electricity, no greenhouse emisions."

"But the waste takes millions of years to decompose!" objected mum.

Finn was frowning.

Finn waved his arms and gurgled. The power station shook.

Finn kicked his legs and was a little sick. The power station turned into a bunch of flowers.

Blimey!

As usual nobody noticed. The adults had already turned and were crunching off down the beach. But Finn was thinking.

All that power in the sun, sea and sky. There has to be a better way of harnessing it...