Entry A-7 “Pools”
From the house you go up the down the street, cross at the light and then follow the road to the big fenced-in area with some electric thing, then the park is at very end of that street. She had memorized the way there perfectly. Elise would sometimes come here alone after school to play. Her big sister Meridian had been very busy with work recently, so she thought maybe her big sis would like to spend the day there to relax.
The two dodged puddles of rain as they made it down sidewalk on Willow Lane. At the house with the big electric poles, Meridian stopped to look up, staring at different parts of the sky for several minutes. Elise had looked, too, but never understood what was so interesting about it. After some time Meridian resumed walking, the whole time her head turned toward the facility.
They didn’t get much further until the older sister would stop again, this time to look at a pothole next to the sidewalk. A nearby pool of rainwater had collected in it. It was clear like a mirror, reflecting the broken up skies above. Once again Elise felt perplexed. She thought maybe Meridian wanted to make a big splash in the water but was worried that it wasnt what an adult would do. From experience she had learned to not question it when she got like this. When asked about it she simply alluded to the vague notion of it being “for work”. She would always end these routines by writing in her notebook.
Deep puddles had amassed in depressions of playground’s rubber flooring, so Elise had to curl her legs up to not make a big splash on the swing. It was more exaciting than the mormal swing. Meridian meanwhile was waiting on the nearby bench, anxiously tapping away at some realization. There was no one else in the park to play with. Looks like Elise would have to spend the day making her own fun.
When it was time to go home Elise called for Meridian but got no response. She was deep in her notebook, writing something down again. The little sister got close and craned forward, putting her hands over the book to get her attention. This startled Meridian, who defensively pulled it into her embrace. Elise smiled meekly, gravitating closer. While the other wore an apprehensive face in response, wanting to lean back further but couldn’t, instead clutching the book a bit harder than before.
After an unsettling amount of time Elise straightened her back and locked her hands behind her back.
“Let’s go home?”
