Summer Days

Chase spends his summer days as a lifeguard at a local pool. When a kid needs help, he springs to the rescue...maybe.

          Chase watched the waters when there were kids swimming, yelled at them to walk when they ran, blew his whistle to tell them to stop touching the ropes, and go feet first down the slides.  He did not necessarily mind those things but not working was his favorite.   It was in his down time he really tried to impress Samantha. 

          Chase loved easy week, too.  Hardly anyone came to the pool, whether because of continuously bad weather, an influx of poop in the pool, or some other miracle they all prayed for. 

          “You know what today is?”  Henry asked Chase as they both entered the guard room at the same time. “Today’s the start of easy week,” he went on, “I bet you.”

          “You think so?”

          “Have you looked outside?”  Henry opened his locker and stuffed his back pack in.  “Today’s a piece of s**t of a day.  Nobody’s comin’, ten, fifteen people, tops.”

          “Don’t kid yourself,” Ricky said from behind.  Both Chase and Henry turned to him. “Kids don’t care if it’s miserable out.  Hell they don’t even wanna get out of the pool when there's crap.  It’s not easy week yet, won’t be till the end of July.  That's when the rec-groups take a break, boys.”

          “July? Easy week isn’t in July,” Henry argued.

          "No?  So explain the rec-groups!"  Ricky shot back.

          When Samantha came into the guard room it secured the start of easy week in Chases mind. She entered in a way suggesting, at any moment, any of them would look upon her face, fall in love with that smile, and how white her teeth were. Her long brown hair was tied back.

          She always wore clothes she'd have to change out of.  Her bathing suit today was entirely too revealing and the manager would give her a time about it just before open. Samantha smiled at each of them and just suddenly as she entered their imagination, she expanded it.  Samantha left the guard room, walked across the deck, and laid down a towel just beside the deep end. 

          “Who do you think is on her list today?”  Henry asked.

          “Depends on where she’s at.  Could be anybody,” Ricky said.

          “What are you talking about?”  Chase said and eyed the day’s rotation drawn on the window in front of them.

          “Oh come on, dude, she’s a c**k-tease if there ever was one,” said Henry.

          “That doesn’t stop you from flirting with her,” Chase said and rubbed the side of his face.

          “Hey,” Henry started and looked at the window, “you better watch it.  I see I’m followin’ you today.”

          “It doesn’t matter who you’re following,” Ricky told him, “you’re always late.  And anyway, gentlemen,” he went on, shifting the conversation back to Samantha, “today is my day in the sun.”

          “Rick, my misinformed and idiotic friend, you’re not even on the list,” said Henry.

 

          When Chase sat in the stand, it was around 2:00, and he’d been watching nearly empty water.  For a time, he observed a frog which swam around just underneath him.  He followed it around until the frog swam into one of the skimmers.  The whole day was composed of a promise of rain that wasn’t going to be met.  Most of the people who showed up weren’t even swimming.  He took his eyes off the water and hoped to see Samantha somewhere.  Chase knew she liked him best.  Despite her game of flirtations with the others, he felt a booming anticipation radiate from her whenever he was around.  She laughed when he said things and watched him when the others vied for her attention.

          Chase looked back at the water and saw the boy.  His theory of nothing going wrong was dashed.  The kid squirmed in the water.

          “Hell-pp!”

          Chase saw his moment for glory and blew one long whistle.  He pointed as he stood to launch himself from the chair.  The guards at different parts of the water stood to point, too.  This was done so the down guards knew where to run.  Everyone needed to be involved on a save.  Sometimes, when Chase was smart and got to wondering, he thought of what happened if something happened elsewhere on the pool deck.  But not now with a save just in the making.

          It was when everyone was half way to doing all this it turned out to be for nothing.  Chase leaped from the stand and into the water.   The safety tube dragged behind him as he raced to the boy.  Chase was within arm’s length of him when the boy stopped squirming and began to laugh hysterically.

          “Huh?”  Chase stopped swimming and pulled the tube closer to him.

          “I was just kiddin’,” the kid said. 

          Chase didn’t know what to do.  He wanted to throw the tube at the kid and say he was a little s**t.

          “That’s a bad joke,” came out instead. The boy responded by shrugging.

          Suddenly the pool seemed much busier.  Everyone was watching and critiquing the whole mess.  Chase swam back to the side of the pool, in defeat, while the kid laughed about things.  He pulled himself out of the pool slowly.

Chase took his shirt off and tried his best to wring it out before he put it back on. A few summers before, one of the managers of the pool’s wife got skin cancer, so it was enforced when in the stand the lifeguards were to keep their shirts on.

“You know,” Henry said, appearing beside Chase, “if it was me, I’d get back in the pool and nearly drown him.  Then start the save all over again.”

Chase didn’t laugh.  He took a last look at the boy who was now caught up in something entirely different.  When he saw he was being watched, a sinister smirk spread across his face.  If Chase could turn this into a joke, he would, but at the moment lifeguards were everywhere.  Once they ran from the guard room, they didn’t want to have to walk back empty handed.  Something needed to happen that didn’t.

“Least I got my exercise,” Ricky said, walking up and patting Chase on the back.

“You were the last one here,” Henry said, “if you wanna call that slow trot of yours exercise…”

The other guards returned to what they were doing while the three of them remained where they were.

“If that was a real save, you would’ve been Samantha’s guy for at least a week,” Henry laughed.

“Maybe two,” chipped in Ricky.

“Oh, I will be her guy,” Chase said finally.

“Optimistic!"

“I like that,” laughed Ricky.  “Well let’s leave him alone.  Maybe you can replace him early."

“Yeah, I guess he earned it.  See you in five,” Henry told Chase.

When Chase returned to the stand it was the longest five minutes of his life.  He thought about what he said. He didn't see Samantha throughout the ordeal, but knew she'd seen it.  He wouldn't be her guy anytime soon. Not with a botched save on his hands.

"You know Chase,"  Henry said when he returned. "You looked real good jumping from the stand.  Heroic, even...A for effort, buddy!"

After jumping into the pool and sitting at the bottom for as long as he could, Chase got out and walked slowly back to the guard room.  He veered off course just as he reached the door, having heard Samantha laugh and not wanting to know what it was about.

 

 

 

         

Author's Note

Just a light hearted story.

Reviews

[sonnetmoon]

Another brilliant story from CM crogan. I am glad that you have included more description in this story. Even though it is short, the message that is trying to be portrayed is light hearted and comical. Keep up the good work. Cant wait to read more of your work

-Sonnetmoon

[C.M Grogan]

Thank you for the kind words. I have been very much taking into account my lack of description and have tried to improve. I'm glad you've noticed. Still need to improve, of course, but your advice has been helping me along. Thanks again!