Memory

That day

The curtains were sunflower and white checks against the dark grain of the bed and the sun came in through a yellow window and blinded the freshly mopped floors a river of light

Before I noticed her foot held up to me like a helpless water bird her toes curled in around the ball with pain, or the growing ring of red around a blue pimple, I heard her wail and the pigeons just outside take flight in alarm

On that glorious afternoon

That day my sister stepped on a push-pin.