It’s summer and the inflatables are here. I’m so excited! I climb aboard the giant orange pillow, socks sliding on the rubber, and find my spot in the jostling hordes. My chubby little legs spring up, down, up to Heaven. Suddenly I’m sinking into a crevasse miles and miles deep, into Hell, the walls closing in, shuttering the blue sky. I claw, scramble, flail, gasp. Help! A lifetime till I’m buoyed up and out, gulping air. Nobody’s noticed I’ve been swallowed, spat out. Sobbing, I crawl past the bounding feet, roll onto the grass. I’m alive! Yet invisible. Where’s Mummy?
Originally a journalist and sub-editor, Sarah Barnett’s flashes have been published by Flashflood 2021, Free Flash Fiction, Paragraph Planet, Retreat West, and Five Minutes. Find Sarah on Twitter @sarahbooga.