The Underwater Man: A short story

On a boat off the coast of Devon, a boy waits with his father’s new wife as all the men, friends on one of their diving holidays, all descend to the depths. Rachel is uneasy, and the boy is bored, but as Rachel begins to talk, she reveals something of her relationship with the boy's father, how they met, and how, behind everyone’s back, they destroyed his family home. But Rachel reveals not only his father's duplicity, but also his brutality. He was longing to follow the men below, wanting only to be recognized as one of them, but when his father surfaces, he begins to feel fear.