Orange Juice in the Garden

Outside the building were deep blue sunbeds beneath orange-and-white umbrellas, each with a small round teak table. Larry and Lorry took the pair nearest the entrance and waited for their orange juice.

All around them, people played like children: flying a kite, balancing on a rope, juggling, singing, dancing, reading books and playing with words in notebooks. Larry tasted his drink and moaned with joy. At first he had thought this was hell; now it felt like heaven. Lorry thought it was something in between.

Their conversation wandered into childhood memories, animals, plants and the questions hidden inside old actions. Wonder gave way to something harsher. Still, when Larry asked whether Lorry would go with him into the unknown and into Golden Dorm, the answer was yes.