Time

Ula stopped at the edge of the water.

The bus would come soon, she thought. Then she remembered that time had not been behaving lately.

Ula stared into the water.

Time had taken today away. She went shopping for just a few hours but as night fell she realised she had no idea where she’d been or what she’d done. The bag on her arm was the only clue. Maybe she’d managed something. A choice. A transaction. An interaction.

Ula saw her reflection in the water.

She wondered if CCTV had captured her day. Maybe it had watched her move around the shop like a snake in a maze, trying to find this and that, always ending up in the same place. Maybe she had just ridden the escalator up and down, up and down. Maybe she’d just sat on the seat at the front of the shop. One of the boys.

Ula stepped back from the water.

The bus was approaching, not a minute late. Minutes had slipped through her fingers like sand but now they returned to deliver her home.

Ula stepped over the water.

She boarded the bus and disappeared as fast as the day.