Veronica switched the TV off despite the loud protests from her children. 

“Not cool, Mom,” Lochlan, her eldest, said.

No surprise there. The only things he deemed cool were his phone and video games. 

“Get your bathing suits on.”

Lochlan raised an eyebrow. “Uh, like we don’t own a pool.” 

“Did we get one?” Maybell asked. 

“Nope, but meet me out back.” Veronica didn’t wait for more questions as she hurried down the hall to get changed.

Afterwards, she slipped on the orange Crocs by the back door and found the old sprinkler behind the shrubs. By the time she had it set up, the kids were standing on the patio, faces scrunched in confusion as they watched. Lochlan crossed his arms, probably because this was very uncool. Veronica ignored him.

“Come on, let’s get wet.” 

“With what? That thing is like a hundred years old. This isn’t the 1900s anymore.” 

Maybell giggled at her brother.

“Yes, I am aware it’s 2026.” Veronica pushed the contraption closer to the kids, and let out a yelp as cold water soaked her back. 

Arms swinging, she splashed herself in the face. Blindly stumbling around the yard, she tripped over the hose, which disconnected from the sprinkler. The kids were in hysterics when she grabbed it and drenched them. It wasn’t long before they were all running around, dodging the icy spray.

Hours later, drying in the sun, Maybell smiled. “That was fun.”

 “Yeah, that was pretty cool. For a mom,” Lochlan said.

Word: sprinkler | Action: running