orgive us, for we have wronged you,’ Stacey cries as she crosses her arms on her chest and goes peacefully to her death. ‘Yes,’ echoes her mother, ‘we have been very wicked, and we are getting no more than we deserve.’

They both disappear under the water.

You turn to your mother. ‘So end all evildoers,’ you observe.

In the water there is a sudden bubbling and up come bits of intestine and a severed ear, then more shreds of human flesh and globules of bloo . . . oh sorry. I just don’t seem able to help myself. Sorry.