Meisha watches satellites pass behind the water tower. He calls them tin cans, says they’re not real.

In the deep end, with her back against the tiles, she can’t hear the shouting. 

The tiles are crumbling, she holds a triangle piece against the sky, one eye closed. 

There was a piece just like it under the dining table, below a new mark on the wall. It had flowers on it like their kitchen plates. 

Her mother said they weren’t shouting. He was just talking loud.

Meisha wants to go to space someday. The TV said it was endless silence there. 

Originally published here: https://freeflashfiction.com/fiction/empty-backyard-pool/