Categories > Original > Drama
"I haven't gone swimming once this summer." I mused to myself while sipping down slightly warm iced tea. I have access to a quaint little pond and I don't utilize it! Everyone's busy now though. Ongoing family feuds, siblings preparing for college and going to therapists, parents working... It seems I'm the only one who has nothing on. That's probably my fault, though. I wake up at 12, eat lunch then hole myself up in my room for the rest of the day. And when it turns night, I don't notice the change in light until I snap out of my zen-like trance to pause my music. It seems as if when I step into my room, time is stopped. Only for me. No one calls, texts, or gets in touch with me when I'm in here. But I soon come to realize it's the same in any other room.
A picture falls loose of its tack and lands face down on the clothes littered floor. I stare at it a moment before reaching to turn it over. It's my dad, two brothers and I at the pool on the last vacation we'd have as a family. The nostalgia stifled me....
"I call this one...the... scissors!" I giggled as the 10 year old me hurled herself into the pool sideways, legs opening and closing once (similar to scissors) before hitting the water. I surfaced and adjusted my goggles.
"Watch out!" My dad warned as he jumped into the pool after me, as straight as a pencil, and plummeted deep into the water. The aftermath soon hit as waves pushed me around, in control of all of my motions. Dad got back out and checked the watch resting on a clear table.
I pushed myself out of the pool, sitting on the edge.
"What time is it?" I asked, not really caring at all. Looking at the moonlight reflecting off the heavily chlorinated water, I guessed it had to be kind of late.
"Almost 10:30. We should go."
I sunk back into the water, glad for the warmth to be hugging my shoulders again.
"Aw, but I don't want to go! One more? Please?" I pleaded, desperate not to have to climb out into the cold, clammy air.
He sighed playfully. "Okay, fine!" he put his towel down. I grinned and hopped out of the water to join him in retreating as far back against the wall as we could.
“One....two...three!" I said happily as we both ran towards the water and jumped, shouting battle cries before we hit the surface....
"Come on, let's go to the pool!" I tugged on my 12 year old brother's sleeve.
"Not now, it's too late!" he protested, his eyes not leaving the television screen.
"But it's only 9:30!" I whined, eager to jump freely into the water.
"It's our last night here, don't you guys want to go for one last swim?" my dad asked, grabbing two towels, knowing that it would only be him and I.
"No." My brother's said in unison. I shrugged at my dad.
"Let's go!" I said merrily, hopping down the stairs of the hotel and out the door into the pleasant summer night.
I breathed in deeply, not wanting to forget what it felt like. Crickets were chirping loudly, faint sounds of animals in the night. The grass was wet from sprinklers perhaps only an hour earlier. The smell of the bright green plants that made up the woods surrounding the hotel was blissful. I could hear few cars passing on the opposite side of the buildings, cozy people settling in for a nights rest. An old man passed us. He tipped his hat and smiled. I smiled back, and started to skip an odd pattern of up down up down down up; my flip flops keeping rhythm as they slapped against the still-warm pavement. The air was warm, inviting. It wrapped around you and begged you to stay. There was a faint hint of mystery hovering in the particles of air around us–or maybe just in my 10 year old brain– of the stealthy animals that could be sneaking around the dumpsters of the hotel.....I could smell the chlorine and see the bright blue reflecting off the walls as we approached the pool. It smelled so sweet....
I stopped short. My heart sank deep into my chest as I read the sign on the door.
"Pool closes for maintenance @ 9:30. Sorry for the inconvenience."
It laughed in my face. It sneered and daunted that if we had only left 15 minutes earlier....
I snapped back to reality as the memory faded from my mind. Remember when things were that simple? When jumping into a pool could make you light up like the fluorescent bulbs that now mock you as you lie awake. The type of awareness and solitude that chlorine or crickets or warm coins flattened under trains couldn't fix.
Yes, things are different now, aren't they?
A picture falls loose of its tack and lands face down on the clothes littered floor. I stare at it a moment before reaching to turn it over. It's my dad, two brothers and I at the pool on the last vacation we'd have as a family. The nostalgia stifled me....
"I call this one...the... scissors!" I giggled as the 10 year old me hurled herself into the pool sideways, legs opening and closing once (similar to scissors) before hitting the water. I surfaced and adjusted my goggles.
"Watch out!" My dad warned as he jumped into the pool after me, as straight as a pencil, and plummeted deep into the water. The aftermath soon hit as waves pushed me around, in control of all of my motions. Dad got back out and checked the watch resting on a clear table.
I pushed myself out of the pool, sitting on the edge.
"What time is it?" I asked, not really caring at all. Looking at the moonlight reflecting off the heavily chlorinated water, I guessed it had to be kind of late.
"Almost 10:30. We should go."
I sunk back into the water, glad for the warmth to be hugging my shoulders again.
"Aw, but I don't want to go! One more? Please?" I pleaded, desperate not to have to climb out into the cold, clammy air.
He sighed playfully. "Okay, fine!" he put his towel down. I grinned and hopped out of the water to join him in retreating as far back against the wall as we could.
“One....two...three!" I said happily as we both ran towards the water and jumped, shouting battle cries before we hit the surface....
"Come on, let's go to the pool!" I tugged on my 12 year old brother's sleeve.
"Not now, it's too late!" he protested, his eyes not leaving the television screen.
"But it's only 9:30!" I whined, eager to jump freely into the water.
"It's our last night here, don't you guys want to go for one last swim?" my dad asked, grabbing two towels, knowing that it would only be him and I.
"No." My brother's said in unison. I shrugged at my dad.
"Let's go!" I said merrily, hopping down the stairs of the hotel and out the door into the pleasant summer night.
I breathed in deeply, not wanting to forget what it felt like. Crickets were chirping loudly, faint sounds of animals in the night. The grass was wet from sprinklers perhaps only an hour earlier. The smell of the bright green plants that made up the woods surrounding the hotel was blissful. I could hear few cars passing on the opposite side of the buildings, cozy people settling in for a nights rest. An old man passed us. He tipped his hat and smiled. I smiled back, and started to skip an odd pattern of up down up down down up; my flip flops keeping rhythm as they slapped against the still-warm pavement. The air was warm, inviting. It wrapped around you and begged you to stay. There was a faint hint of mystery hovering in the particles of air around us–or maybe just in my 10 year old brain– of the stealthy animals that could be sneaking around the dumpsters of the hotel.....I could smell the chlorine and see the bright blue reflecting off the walls as we approached the pool. It smelled so sweet....
I stopped short. My heart sank deep into my chest as I read the sign on the door.
"Pool closes for maintenance @ 9:30. Sorry for the inconvenience."
It laughed in my face. It sneered and daunted that if we had only left 15 minutes earlier....
I snapped back to reality as the memory faded from my mind. Remember when things were that simple? When jumping into a pool could make you light up like the fluorescent bulbs that now mock you as you lie awake. The type of awareness and solitude that chlorine or crickets or warm coins flattened under trains couldn't fix.
Yes, things are different now, aren't they?
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