Anna was floating in the paddling pool on an inflatable horse. It was was hot. Odd things were about to happen.
She floated gently round and round, splashing absently with her feet. A ladybird landed on her finger and crawled up her arm. She stared at it.
Do ladybirds normally have so many legs?
She brushed off her concerns, but left the ladybird where it was.
Round and round and round...
Her feet were pale. Pale, like fat little larva under the water. The ladybird crawled higher.
Around her feet, black bin-bags accumulated, her mother's futile attempt to attract heat to the water. She swirled her legs lazily, and the bin-bags swirled too, like black fish in a pond.
Round and round and round...
The sun should have set by now, but it was all still brightly lit. She looked at the shadows, but they kept changing. The ladybird was on her other arm now. She hadn't felt it change.
She looked down at her feet again, and saw black koi carp, twisting silently around her legs. Their pale eyes were like stones, and their fins didn't disturb the water The ladybird bit her finger.
The horses head was ripped and drooped, heavy with water, the result of a game long since ended. It's rubber body felt warmer, and softer. The ladybird twitched it's wings.
Was the water always so red?
Round and round and round...
Eyes stared through fences and hedges, with no silhouettes behind them. They were colder than the carps', and unblinking. There were more each time she looked.
The ladybird crawled higher.
The carps' splashing broke the silence, but when she looked they were only bin bags. The water was clear again, the red had faded. The ladybird had swapped back.
The shadows pointed east, long and dark. The ladybird basked in the shade of her shirt sleeve.
The eyes were gone, or closed at least. The ladybird was gone too. She hadn't felt it take off.
Anna steered the horse to the edge of the pool and got out. She it in the pool, spinning gently.
Round and round and round...
