“Those chairs are upsy down.” His shrill young voice echoed across the water, hovered in the air, trailed the heron down river.

I opened one eye to try and locate him. His red hat bobbed in the tall grass and disappeared. I sighed and settled back against the Adirondack.

“Whatever,” I murmured to no one. The sun was hot and high, the locust buzz was steady. I felt a bead of sweat let go and travel slowly down the center, between my bosoms. My fingernail played with the peeling paint on the arm of the chair.

“UPSY!” he crowed. I raised my head, squinted both eyes open.

“What?!”

“YOU! You’re upsydown!” Oh, for god’s sake. I settled back.

“Jasper, STOP. I’m tryin’ to relax.”

“Well, you’re relaxin’ but…” he trailed off. I heard him laugh, then saw him jump in the water, watched him stream across like an alligator, right before the chomp and roll. Just as I started to shut my eyes, his head popped up near my feet, gasping for air.

“You’re upsy down!” I raised my head and looked at him, then noticed something floating down stream.

“There goes your hat.”

He let out a shriek and started paddling madly toward it. He caught up to it, wrestled it for show, poured out the water, and slapped it on his head. I closed my eyes, and listened to the splashing rhythm as he slowly made his way back to shore.

He climbed out, dripping, and slopped his way up to me.

“Did you know?”

“Know what?”

“That you’re upsy down.”

I sat upright and stared at him.
“For god’s sake, Jasper, what in hell are you talkin’ about?”

He shrugged his tan shoulders, turned and walked over to the water’s edge. He peered at his reflection.

“Well,” he said, “from here you can’t tell. But from over there,” he pointed a bony finger to the far shore. “Everything is upsy down.”

He looked back at me and grinned.
“In the water.”

photo credit: http://www.catherineandersonstudio.com