52 Postcards - postcard #2

For an explanation of my 52 Postcard project, see this post.

Postcard: Chomping Chocolate
Photograph copyright Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Exercise: Describe only physical details of the postcard, no speculation, no metaphor.

It’s a black and white postcard, of four children and a dog. The children are all lined up in front of you, in front of round balls hung from a string, right at mouth level. On the left is the smallest boy, wearing muddy Wellingtons, with long shorts, a collared shirt and a cardigan sweater that has been buttoned wrong. You can see his ears perfectly, since they stick right out from his head, little round things like monkey ears. His hair pokes out especially on the left side. Next to him is the tallest girl, who also wears wellies, taller and darker, muddier too. She has a dress on, but it looks like the hem is somehow caught up and rides high on her left leg. She has a white collar on her dark dress, a collar that was probably once tidy. Her hair is cut in a little pageboy, clipped off to the right, and it pokes out too, as though static electricity is drawing it close to the little boy’s hair on that side. In her hands, she holds the dog’s front paws. The dog is next to her, white paws in her hand, standing up on his hind legs, halfway behind the tallest boy, who stands in front of the others and looks off into the distance. He is the only boy who isn’t trying to catch the ball in his mouth, even the dog has his mouth open to try and reach the ball in front of him, one little bottom tooth showing, nose in the air. The boy who looks off in the distance is the only one who looks tidy still, he wears a dark beret, a little white scarf tied around his neck like an ascot, the ends tucked neatly into his coat, which is zipped up halfway. His baggy dark pants have the cut of riding breeches, loose, and then fitted at the ankle. They fall over the tops of his shoes like spats. Only his shoes look scuffed. One hand hangs by his side, one hand is lifted, one finger pointed, not quite to where he’s looking. The last child is a girl, who stands behind him and to his left. She stands up perfectly straight, her little mouth open against the hanging ball, eyes closed, head tilted back a little. She wears MaryJanes and if you look closely you can see that she’s standing up on her toes just a little. She wears socks with her Maryjanes, all bunched up halfway up her calf. Her little dress is checked, with a round collar, and a pocket, little checks and puffed sleeves. Her right hand bunches up the fabric so that the hem hangs higher on the right than on the left.