There will be many more hot, wet summers to come.
Clink!
“Hey, come see this!” The girl waves at her friends before she turns back to scrape away the soil. Underneath the lush tangle of weeds and dotted mushrooms is a glass jar, a perfect size for collecting tadpoles. Shame about all the stuff in it. After the usual ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s at her find, the job of clearing it out begins.
First, a collection of ties, each gaudier than the last. She takes the nicest one, draping it like a scarf around her neck, leaving the others to squabble over the rest. She gets lost in an oversized silvery suit, but leaves it to the bugs – too heavy to carry.
Next, some jewellery. She’s sure her mother has a brooch just like this one, amber gems in the shape of a leaf. And a boring ring, put in a pocket by someone but quickly forgotten.
Three strange pieces of metal are squirrelled away to the games bag: one smooth, one jagged, and one folded into a neat shape. A fourth, in the shape of a skeletal shape with way too many legs, is too scary and gets hidden in the bushes.
A book, some sort of diary, is set aside for future reading. A drawing of a woman’s face is tucked inside so that her eyes stop watching everyone.
A chocolate bar, crumbling and chalky, does not deter the dog, who is distracted from stealing it by throwing a twig from the jar.
A small rectangle, printed with a clown in a top hat, is tossed aside too. Another rectangle, this one folded into the shape of a boat, is set onto the river to drift away.
The girl peers into the jar, screwing up her face at the sight of some gloves covered in dried blood and some horrible blackened flakes of something. These, along with a couple small vials (one of water, one apparently empty), are tipped out into the mud at a good arm’s length, emptying the jar.
“Ok, come on!“ The jar is tucked under her arm. “There’s a good tadpole spot over there.”
She marches away and the others follow her.
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