Floating Ring

One afternoon,
the children were arguing
about a floating ring
in the apartment swimming pool.

The exact ownership situation
was somewhat disputed.

After a while,
the adults sided
with the younger sister.

After the argument,
the family went back upstairs,
leaving one child alone
in the swimming pool.

Along with the floating ring.

The child stayed there
for quite a long time.

Nobody came back down.

At first,
this felt like resistance.

Possibly even principle.

Later,
certain practical difficulties
slowly became apparent.

The child:
had no money,
no transportation,
and no alternative accommodation
at age nine.

Eventually,
the child climbed out of the pool
and went back upstairs.

Nobody ever brought it up again.

The afternoon disappeared quietly
into ordinary family history.

Still,
many decades later,
the child remembered clearly that
despite all principles involved,
she had been the one
who went upstairs first.

The floating ring itself
has long since disappeared.

But not from the child’s memory.