Bathtime at Grateful is a wonder that always begins with a few wooden logs in Grandpa’s old wood furnace. Only when Graaff-Reinet’s brackish water boils and the big bathroom with its high ceiling starts steaming, can we open the little tap to let in a few spits of hot water.
With my sister, me and two cousins in one bath, the puddle of bathwater rises to almost enough covering for our little behinds. But we never felt the cold for we were too busy dreaming big-girl dreams.
“Rub more soap” said a cousin “Then you will get big titties one day”. So we rubbed soap until our little toes looked like raisins and the soapy water like film, clings to our cold bodies. And mom pretending to be upset, came chasing us out until tomorrow, to dream our big-girl dreams again.
