Things from the story

Daphne's constant companion: a horn of shell and brass for listening to water. Polishing it every morning is part of her daily routine.

A strange, faintly glowing cloth that dries almost as soon as it gets wet. It feels just like Daphne's dress.

A shard from the Shell Archive. Hold it to your ear, and you can almost hear a distant song in the water.

A thin, transparent film left behind when a squishy Powan sheds its skin. As it dries, it hardens like glass.

A fish scale that glows faintly after dark. Some people collect them and use them in place of street lamps.

Daphne's well-used paddle. The handle has worn into a shape that fits her hand perfectly.

A small gear from the clock tower. In truth, the town keeps time not with gears, but with mist and the flow of water.

A chip of iridescent marble. Hold it up to the light, and a tiny seven-coloured bridge appears across your palm.

A spare component from a Water Listener's horn. Apparently, polishing these every day is the very first job given to an apprentice.

The favourite pipe of Baldo, the old scholar of the Silent Tower. Instead of smoke, strange blue bubbles drift up from it.

A warm paper lantern that lights Neptune Terminal at dusk. One light, then another, reflected in the waterway.

A lantern set afloat on the waterway on Star-Flow Night, carrying a wish. What did people hope for this year?

A drop-shaped glass pendant, glowing faintly with the colour of sunset — as if a single drop of sunlight had been sealed inside.

An old compass with cracked glass. Its needle points in a direction that should not exist — always upward, never moving.

The pride of Café Plankton. Inside the glass tank, glowing plankton drift like jellyfish and cast a gentle light. Watch them for long enough and you lose track of time.

A key Baldo carried for forty years and never once used. It has been held in someone's hand for so long that its edges have worn round. It is meant to open the ceiling of the dome — from the outside.