‘You must cleanse yourselves in the three springs before entering the temple,’ said the priest.

We went to the first spring and washed ourselves in the warm water, a pleasant scent of jasmine in the air.

The waters of the second spring were fast-flowing, ice-cold and salty. We only stayed in briefly.

The third spring gurgled out of the mud, and we sank almost to our knees. We playfully daubed each other in dark browns.

We returned to the priest, salty and mud-encrusted. ‘We have cleansed,’ I said.

The priest stared at us open-mouthed, then laughed as they opened the door to the temple.
‘I suppose you have. People usually go in the springs in the reverse order.’

#microfiction #writing