She had been walking a great distance in the heat at the end of the season when she came upon a quiet pond in a little depression. She’d followed this path many times but never before had she noticed the pond. Trees sheltered the shore on one side, and their leaves turned this way and that only infrequently in the hot, still, dry air. A dragonfly paused at the reeds, and the water’s surface obediently duplicated the image of the blue sky which hung above it.
   Irresistible. She removed her shoes, stepped into the pool and walked toward the very center of the water, laughing at the way she was able to barge aside the entire sky as she went. The sand beneath her gave way unnervingly wherever she placed her feet, but the rush and resistance of the water reassured. A much cooler current efreshed the water from below. Near the center of the pond, where the depth came precisely to her throat, she stopped and waited for the play of water to subside. At last, only her respiration perturbed the surface, softly rolling a wave toward the shore with each breath.
   Listening closely she could hear the reflection of the concentric circles as they returned to her from the mossy shore, each with a slightly different story to tell.