Shards in the sand

In the playground two school kids have taken over the tire swings. I don’t really look at them as we go through the gate. I sit down on the edge of the sandbox instead, drink from my pink thermos, and scroll on my phone.

My daughter has finished digging and heads for the swings. My partner follows her and pushes her on the baby swing. A few meters away, the two boys are sitting in the sand. They throw Coca-Cola bottles of glass into the air so they spin like juggling clubs. This is going to end in shards, I think. At the same moment I hear a crash. I glance over at them. They’re laughing. They seem proud of what they’ve just accomplished.

Slowly they begin to pick up the biggest pieces and put them in the bin. The rest of the glass they cover with sand using their feet. We start getting ready to leave. As I pass them, I hear one of them say: “Next time I hope both bottles break.”