The puddle was enormous. It was the kind of puddle that happens only once in a great while — formed by three days of rain, fed by an overflowing gutter, and protected by a slight dip in the pavement that acted like a cup. It stretched from the lamp post to the garden gate and was of uncertain depth. Nobody had tested it.
Theo arrived at the puddle first, from the north. He was six years old and wearing red wellington boots. He stood at the edge for a moment, considering.
Priya arrived at the puddle second, from the south. She was also six years old and wearing yellow wellington boots. She stood at the opposite edge, also considering.
They looked at the puddle. They looked at each other. Neither one said anything.
Then, at exactly the same moment, they both jumped.
SPLASH.
The puddle turned out to be deeper than either of them had anticipated. The water went up past their boots and soaked their socks. It also splashed upward in a spectacular arc and covered them both from the knees to the collar in cold, magnificent, brown mud.
There was a moment of very still silence.
Then they both started laughing at the same time — helpless, genuine, doubling-over laughing.
"You're completely covered," said Theo.
"So are you," said Priya. "Your face has got mud on it."
"Your hair has got mud in it."
"Your jumper is ruined."
"So is yours."
They laughed some more. The puddle sloshed around their boots.
"I'm Priya," said Priya.
"I'm Theo," said Theo. "I live on this street."
"I'm visiting my auntie," said Priya. "She lives in that yellow house."
They stood in the puddle and talked, which was unusual but felt completely natural. They discovered that they both liked football and spaghetti and that they did not like beetroot. Priya had a dog called Biscuit. Theo had a cat called Submarine, for reasons he couldn't fully explain.
They jumped in the puddle two more times, by which point they were so muddy it barely made a difference. When Priya's auntie appeared at the gate with an expression of considerable horror, they were building a small dam out of sticks at one end of the puddle.
"Priya Sharma," said the auntie. "What in the world?"
"The dam was Theo's idea," said Priya, which was not entirely true, but Theo didn't mind.
They got hosed down in the garden before they were allowed inside. Then Priya had to borrow a jumper that said PROPERTY OF THE FIRE BRIGADE on it. Then they had hot chocolate and discovered they both took it with exactly two marshmallows.
When Priya left that evening, she and Theo exchanged phone numbers. They had been friends for four hours. They had been covered in mud for three of them.
It was, by any measure, a very good day.
