The perfect little pond. Fresh cool water gurgling playfully across the upper rocks, plummeting softly through lagoon-still shade, plunging into the shadowy cove. Water so swollen the ripples don’t go far. Swollen as nipples under the touch of tongues, the bubbles burst. The waves pull down down down. And beneath the surface, a quiet whisper away from darting, clever fish wait the perfect moment to enter the mossy cave. Sue can almost see herself come.

“Whatcha doin?”

“Oh! Oh, Ellen, you startled me. I was just ... just looking at our fish pond. Where it’s going to be, I mean. Trying to decide. You see this orange line on the grass? That’s the outline. Bob is getting it for my birthday. I don’t know whether here, or back over there. What do you think?”

“It’s big,” Ellen says.

“Too big?”

“Maybe it won’t look so big once everything’s dug out and the water’s in and the fish are swimming about. Is Bob going to dig it himself?”

“He was going to. But time’s running too short and Bob’s in Memphis so much right now. They can do it in a day. The digging, the stones, the water pump and electricity and plants. Everything.”

“Wow. Is it expensive?”

“Sixteen-five, not including the fish. The fish are extra.”

“What kind of fish are you going to get? Koi?”

“I guess.”

“Imported or domestic?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know what koi look like.”

“Penises,” Ellen says. “But then all fish look like penises, don’t you think?”

Sue laughs. Ellen takes her hand.

“Once your pond is in you won’t want to swim in my pool anymore, will you?”

“Sure I will.”

“Well, I haven’t seen you much lately.” Ellen brings Sue’s hand up to her breast.

“I know. I know. It’s been busy.” Sue can feel Ellen’s nipple fattening under the blouse.

“Anyway, I just came over to see if you wanted to play. If you wanted to play with my little cunnyfish.”