Above my head, the propeller buzzed. These bungalows did not have air conditioning, but the old-fashioned system of wings that moved air, which gave a pleasant sound, and I fell asleep.
I'm facing my brother, standing with clenched fists, and raising my right hand to sell him a good right. He also lashes out with his right hand, and I duck away from him while giving him a right to his bearded jaw. This prompts him to grab me by the hair. I have long curls like my brother, and I hold his hair and pull it hard. He tries to tear himself away from me, which he can't, and I smash into him. With his arms around his head, he tries to protect himself, but I keep hammering. I hate him sincerely. You killed Mother, I shout, it's all your fault. My brother manages to get out of the beating, and he grabs my legs, and I fall to the ground. He gets on top of me and starts punching me in the face. I'm calling for my mother, who isn't coming.
My mother is standing on a scaffolding, she holds something white in her hand, it is bleeding, drops of blood are falling into the water. Now I see she's bleeding, too. She wears a white dress but in the middle of her body, between her breasts there is a red spot that is getting bigger and bigger, the white dress is slowly turning red. Shark Shark calls my mother, I'm so high, she's screaming with laughter, hysterically she's laughing, her laugh is getting shrill, shark shark she's calling.
My father runs down a road, behind him is a red car, the car has an exceptionally large mouth with white teeth that are trimmed with black. He sings a song loudly, but I don't understand what he's saying. It's not Dutch he's singing.
'I love poetry' he shouts, 'poetry is the most beautiful thing there is, Paul greets things in the morning is the most beautiful poem ever. Can you recite that for me, Teddy? Then he sits across the table from me. On the table is a white rabbit without a head. My father grabs the bunny and starts to peel the skin off. Underneath the skin is pink. "Your mother is a rabbit leg," he says. I jump into the water that flows under the table; it's warm, hot.
I woke up soaking wet with sweat. It was hot in the room, and I turned up the propellor—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. I took a long shower. Judging by the sunlight, it was mid-afternoon. The waves were higher and made more noise.