I’m ready to launch myself to the back of the cave but that would get me nowhere. The baby moves around and I notice it’s beauty. Eyes the size of saucers stare at me. I stare in awe but I start to hear a sweet, soothing voice. I look up to see Amy, “Hey it’s okay, we are not here to harm you or your baby.” I think to myself, she is really talking to the Pandamander!

The Pandamander tilts it’s head to one side and automatically sits down like Amethyst is about to tell some amazing adventure story. “We’ll protect you,” Amy says softly. The Pandamander seems to be listening. I slowly come out from behind my rock. I wonder, will it let us free?

“We are going home now. Stay safe.” The Pandamander steps to one side allowing us to go through the tunnel. I warn Amethyst that we can’t run, we will just be chased. The Pandamander bows it’s head as if it was trying to say bye. Safe at last.

Outside I take a long deep breath and a sigh of relief. Inside I can hear the Pandamander scurrying back to it’s nest.

The mist cleared. I could now make out the way home. A bright moon hangs high above us and stars stud the inky sky. Their reflections sparkle in the deep sea. All is still. We can’t allow anyone to find the Pandamander or it’s baby. Amethyst rapidly talks about how to keep the precious Pandamander safe. She is full of ideas. Tell the council that bamboo fell down in the bamboo forest. Get more signs up banning the cliffs, the bamboo forest, or even the abandoned arcade.

By the time we reach the city, nearly everyone was awake. The sun creeps over the sea. It casts shadows along the pier. Maria drove her ice-cream van towards the theatre. She looked over and gently smiled. Zack’s gift shop was opening up. He stood behind the counter and served anyone who came in with a cheerful smile. Miss Mango was setting up deckchairs on the soft sand. By the time we get to the theatre, cars make their way towards the car park to flood the pier.

I fiddle with the keys and swing the door open, it’s cool and noisy. Soon it would become the noise of an elephant stampede. As I open the little cubby-hole door, I wonder, will the Pandamander and her baby be found by anyone else? Is the Pandamander only friends with me and Amy?

Amethyst wanders over to the window. I stand beside her and she points to which look like fragments of the baby Pandamander’s egg shell. We look at each other, both thinking the same thought.

The never-ending day carries on. After every performance, I find Amy looking through books, ancient logs and records. She looks at this old, tattered leather coating, wrapped around a mysterious book. It’s the diary I bought when I was younger. I never read it though. Amy finds an entry. It has pictures of what looks like the Pandamander standing next to the writing. It says that Captain Berry, an old sailor, spotted an egg that was mint green. He grabbed it and sailed off but every night he thought he was being watched. Soon after that, the ship was attacked by the devils panda. Ever since then, sailors and fishermen threaten to find the creature and kill it. 

That evening we read the book over and over again (eyeing the pictures) trying to see if we missed anything. This isn’t the end. The story just begun…