saturday the 23rd of august, 08

jy. on the beach on toronto island, facing away from the city. she had just bought a nail painting, patterning tool kit that week, and she brought it with her. after eating we sat down on the hot sand and she experimented on all of us. my pinky ends up green with a black- grid overlay. mo.'s toes on his right foot end up multi-coloured, like a bag of skittles, some with leopard print.

all the while red ants bite us, leaving a sting that only comes off in the cold, numb, water. later that night, after taking a shower at ryjy's to clean off the sun and sand, I put my underwear back on only to discover, through a bite to the thigh, that an ant had made the trip home with me. ryjy wondered why I was swearing so much in their bathroom.

days later, at different times, we all got headaches and chest pain from the bites.