Goldfish

Mrs Henderson looked surprised and opened her mouth.  We waited for some words, but none came.  She looked like a startled goldfish, who has swum headfirst and at some speed into the glass wall of her bowl, with a 'Hey ! What just happened !' expression.

After several seconds of silence she closed her mouth with an audible clop, turned and walked away.

We exchanged embarrassed glances in the continuing silence, then shuffled our feet, and stared at our shoes. We had never seen an adult look vulnerable, not in charge. And it was our fault.  Slowly we separated and drifted away….