A name for the patch of water

An original fictional account of an invented family naming game.

We called it the lake because pond sounded too small for the journey. My uncle had promised to take us there after lunch, and I had pictured a stretch of water with an opposite shore that disappeared in mist. The actual place lay behind three houses. From the gate, I could see every part of its edge.

My cousin ran ahead and declared the little plank beside it a harbour. I said it was a plank. He tied a leaf to a piece of thread, lowered it into the water and announced the first departure. The leaf turned twice and settled against a stone. His harbour, I told him, was badly designed.

He did not defend it. He gave me the thread and asked where the next boat should go. I chose a pale patch under a willow. It seemed the most distant destination available. The leaf would not travel there. Each time I pulled, it came obediently towards my hand, which was the one direction I did not want.

My uncle sat on a low wall and watched us argue with the water. He did not offer a better boat. He said the pale patch was a reflection, and the place I had chosen would move if I moved. I went round to the other side. The willow's bright space had indeed shifted. I felt briefly cheated by something that had never made me a promise.

We spent the next hour inventing destinations that stayed put. The cracked stone became an island. A root was a landing stage. We disagreed over whether a beetle had bought a ticket. When my uncle said it was time to leave, the water was still as small as it had been at the gate. I could measure it with my eyes. I no longer seemed to have finished looking at it.

How does the writer show the narrator's changing response to the visit? Support your answer with references to the passage.