Dirty Harry

Ikeyra Kay, 23, Perth

Knocking at the door, I listened for footsteps but nobody came.

My friend wasn’t home from school yet, I supposed.

So I walked back down the path and to the pavement.

Coming out of the garden next door at the same time was a white-haired man with a lovely black Labrador.

I bent to pet the dog.

‘Her name’s Kira, ’ the man said.

‘My name’s Ikeyra, ’ I laughed. ‘Almost the same.’

He laughed too.

I looked more closely at the man and suddenly became transfixed.

He was lighting a Chinese lantern.

As he released it into the sky, I stared, fascinated, as it bobbed up and away.

It was September