Digital illustration created using Blender and Adobe Photoshop brushes.

 

A budding September spills over summer’s edge, you nudge his forehead beneath the ripples of the pool. Your eyes upon his wristwatch, smothering any remaining beats. The lifeguard’s on his pulpit, his attention blind or adrift. Encircling you, friends afflicted by the closing season where all stories meet their ends. They lean towards their verdict, observing throughout the waters, the surface of your complicity, the depth of his mistakes.