My mother’s rough hands fold turn-ups on my jeans, pins clamped between her teeth. I bind my feet to the floor, desperate to climb trees. Mum likes jeans – they’re easier, she says, than peeling off and washing muddy dresses. As she stands, scissors held low, the door swings behind me.

Bonnie is a British writer whose flash fiction has appeared in several literary magazines including most recently Ellipsis Zine and Tiny Molecules. She shares a house in Greater Manchester, UK, with an unpredictable number of humans; grows disobedient vegetables; and walks in the hills near home. Bonnie also travels alarming distances to see loved ones in Aotearoa/New Zealand. See more at bonniemeekums.weebly.com