Summer's end

Remember when you were nine or ten and those long summer afternoons seemed to last forever?
And tired as you were as the sun sank lower, still you wandered in the dreamtime, squeezing the last drop of life from this long moment as if it was the last. And now here you are watching the children track the last rays lasering over the beach. And you're impatient for that sunset you stayed for: your clothes are crunchy with sand, your overheated skin is simmering ... you hope you haven't had too much UV. And somebody's got to get the supper on. The hungry monsters won't want to wait even a split second.