One of My Many Memories

Cheeks painted.

A sun on the left.

A heart on the right.

A beaming smile,

Stretching from ear to ear,

Crushing the face paint.

A slight gap between the

Two front teeth,

And vampirish canines.

A cheap dress she wore,

Her favourite dress.

Long and grey, with black stitching.

A sequin heart with wings on her chest.

Black jeans perfecting the gothic style.

Almost platinum blonde hair

Weakly tied into a plait, and baby hairs

Fleeing the flouncy structure.

The thin streaks of gold made her look

Identical to the sun on her cheek.

“Smile!”

Smile she did.

Click!

A bright image on her mum’s phone.

“Can I get into the mirror pool? Please?”

“OK, just your feet though!”

Running to those fountains, she dipped her toe in.

Cold on the surface.

Warm beneath the surface.

Then, another toe, and another,

Until her entire foot was submerged.

Repeated with the other foot.

Slow and steady.

Step by step.

Tiny toddlers dashing

through the water,

waves erupting from each

footstep.

Deeper into the water.

Big boys pretending they’re

surfer dudes.

This was dangerous territory.

Took slower steps.

Became a target.

She was so focused on

how she moved,

She didn’t even see the toddler,

Rampaging towards her.

Crash!

Down she went.

With a massive splash,

She landed on the floor

of the fountain.

Her face directly on the

largest spout.

WOOSH!

The fountain turned on,

Sending a gushing spray

of chlorinated,

Urine-filled water straight

into her nose,

Ears,

And mouth.

Yuck!

She stood up,

Weighed down by the extra 5kg of water.

She realises…

My dress!

My dress got wet!

What’s mum going to say?

I took the moment in.

…

I started to laugh.

Hysterically.

After a minute,

I turned around.

White fire in her eyes.

She was livid.

I waded towards her,

Trying to supress a smile.

Her lips tightened.

I was not about to be laughing soon enough.

“What the hell did you do?”

“I fell.”

“Yeah, I saw that. I thought I told you to be careful.”

“I was! But that little kid came out of nowhere!

I swear it wasn’t my fault! I wasn’t paying attention,

But only because I tried to not get my jea-“

“It’s fine. I’m not going to shout.”

A tsunami of relief washed over me.

“But we do need a towel and some clothes for you,”

“Primark?”

“Primark.”

And with that, I squelched my way to Primark,

With mum and I in hysterics for most of the time.

Author Notes: This poem is based off a memory a few years ago. (It's set in the centre of our town)

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