Swimming in a drain

At high tide, the monsoon drain could swell to five meters wide and two meters deep. This drain was great fun for us. We could swim; we could dive and paddle a homemade raft. Father put a long plank across the drain, and we could dive into the water.

I write this in memory of my late classmate Kong Kheng Fun. She lived near us, and every afternoon, she and Margaret and Joseph and I would be swimming. 
One day I did a perfect dive, and landed on a broken beer bottle. My head bled and we rushed to the sink downstairs where Kheng Fun and Margaret helped me washed off the blood. We waited until the wound stopped oozing of blood. Then we sneaked upstairs and had our shower. We never told mum because if we did, we would be banned from swimming. 
At low tide, I went and saw the broken bottle sticking upright. I took a stick to dislodge the bottle. The photo below was taken this year at low tide.
I still have that scar in my scalp.