"Aunt" - April 13, 2022

A tight, chestnut brown curl had spring free from her bun and now bounced about like a kid wild and free in a bouncy house. Sweat collected and gathered together at the tips of her eyelashes until they were too heavy and a single drop started careering towards the tile floor. Mop in hand and a dirty bucket of soapy water lay at her slippered feet, smelling of pine sol and the grime of the last 50 years built up in the grout. The air was much more like smog and littered with flying dust bunnies of hair making a run for the closest doors and windows. I blew a bright blue cotton candy Bubble Yum bubble so big it obscured half my face until I pierced it with the tip of my tongue - this was the most fun I’d had all day with my tired, almost-tasteless-except-for-that-horrible-gum-aftertase-when-it’s-lost-it’s-flavor taste. The arches of my feet pulsed, nagging me like a little child saying “Are we done yet?!”