By C. A. Broadribb

Given the times, you slip a blue cloth mask on over your nose and mouth before venturing out of the front door.  Then you notice how bright and sunny it is and pop back inside to retrieve your sunglasses.  The red heart-shaped frames contrast oddly with the mask and you worry that you look ridiculous.

A young girl sits on the grass on the verge, playing with a doll.  You’ve never seen her before, and wonder where she lives.

“Hello.  What’s your name?” you say.

She glances up at you and giggles.  “You look silly.”

“Tell NSW Health that,” you snap.

The girl’s holding her doll in her arms like it’s a baby, which presumably is what kids are supposed to do with dolls, although you always made up elaborate stories with them.

“That’s an interesting doll,” you tell her.

It’s wearing a bumblebee costume with tiny wings attached to its back.  Its face is turned to the side, simulating sleep.  You would have had it flying around during games, being a bumblebee superhero, despite its design and the improbability of its wings carrying its weight.

“My auntie gave it to me,” the child says.

She has a box of orange Tic Tacs and a packet of Turkish Delight filled Easter eggs with her and offers the doll each in turn before eating a few Tic Tacs and then an Easter egg herself.

“Want some?”  She holds out the packets.

“No thanks, I’m on a diet.”  You glance at your watch.  You need to head for the bus stop soon.

“Go on, have a Tic Tac.”  She waves the box insistently.

The number of calories in a Tic Tac would be minimal, so you shrug and take one, to be polite.  As you pop it into your mouth, the girl giggles again.

“Ha ha, I made you take off your mask!  You’ve got covid now!”

She jumps to her feet and runs away, clutching her belongings.