Fiction: An incident at the swimming pool leaves young Mira and Ashu shaken, and their mother angry

On most days, Ma drives us to the club. After she fights with another member for a spot and parks the car, we walk past the badminton court and the café with tiny sandwiches, past the reading library and past the room where old people wrinkle their noses at playing cards and throw them down angrily when they lose. When we reach the pool area, we change into our costumes, and Ma sits somewhere in the corner to hide from the sun and watch over us while we swim. Honestly, though, most of the time, Ma is looking around at everyone else but me and Ashu, and I have to call out Maaa! Look! again and again to show her a new move I’ve learnt. I’ve decided that I don’t hate the pool anymore. Turns out the sea monster thing was just a joke. Sea monsters can’t make it to a pool – it’s too far!

When Ma is busy or has a headache, she asks Mrs Shome to take us and we ride to the club in her car with the window down, letting the evening wind tie knots in our hair, and the bumps on the road make bruises...

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