Walking through water
Toes sending crystal droplets into the air
Like a shaken bottle of sparkling water
Their shoulders burned with the
Lemon juiced sun that soaked their skin.
Butterflies danced above them
With stenciled wings.

They reached the shore
And sat on baking rocks.
Shade from the sentry trees
Tickled their hair and played with their ears.

The sister smiled, her white teeth pearly
And pulled out a handful of cherries,
Their red flesh resting against her pale skin.
She joked about the girls at school
That tugged her hair and called her names.
One by one, she crushed the cherries
The smell of their breaking
Filled the air.

And the joke morphed as each girl
Offered the name of someone
That had done them wrong.
Joy turned to malice,
And the lemon sun turned to fire.