The Kraken's Spire Literary Magazine (Volume 1)

Ignacio shouldered the hose. “It won’t take but five minutes, and then we’re
done and we’ll have money to get lunch on the way to the lake.” He sponged
the sweat from his brow with a scrap of an old t-shirt before he wiped his hands
on his shorts for good measure. With an artist’s precision, Ignacio traced the
leaf line, never spraying above the flowers’ stems. “See, that wasn’t so bad,”
he said as he let his fingers go slack on the trigger of the hose. Ignacio grinned
to hide his sigh of relief, teasing his sister. “And you were too scared to do it!”
He whipped the hose to eye-level and aimed it at Marisol, who was already
running back towards the Haddish’s house. “Hey, get back here!”
Marisol’s giggles bubbled around the corner of the mansion. Just as she
ducked behind one of the BMWs parked in the driveway, Ignacio caught sight
of her dark hair exploding out of her scrunchy, giving away her hiding spot. “I
dare you to spray me with the top down on this car!” she jeered.
Dropping to the cement, Ignacio rolled onto his right shoulder to shoot his
sister with a jet of the cool water. “Oh yeah? How ‘bout that?”
She jumped to her feet and opened herself up to Ignacio’s relentless attacks.
“It’s not fair!” Marisol squealed as she sought shelter around the corner of the
house.
“You’ve got nowhere to hide!” Ignacio’s knuckles were drenched by the
incessant drip of the nozzle, his fingers pressed to the trigger, eyes searching
for his target.
The unseasoned hunter forgot his stealth and caution, blinding himself to the
danger lurking on the other side of a line of freesias. Marisol fled the gushing
stream arcing towards her, her steps a foot shy of the white flowers they had
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