An Oil Slick

By Alice Bowen

15 February 1993

I am a puffin. I live on the Shetland Isles. One day I saw a gruesome black shape appearing out of the fog. I went home and told my wife and children and they went out and saw it and said "Don't worry, it will not hit yet, we've got plenty of time. Don't worry. Now go and catch some herrings." So I did and that night they had the most delicious meal of herrings.

The next day I saw it again, nearer as well. I went home and told my wife but she said "Don't worry." The next day it hit. Tons of oil poured out for three days. We went hungry until little holes appeared in it. We dived in but I got stuck in it. I was taken out to sea. I lost sight of my wife and children. Soon I was washed up on a beach.

In two days time men with boxes came. They picked me up and put me in one of the boxes. Then they put me in a car and took me to a wildlife centre where I was nursed back to health. Then they released me back into the wild. I flew far far away until I reached a wildlife reserve and there I stayed.

The End

Written after the Braer oil tanker spillage disaster off Shetland in January 1993.