You are sitting at your desk, writing and typing away, trying to meet two deadlines which you are quite nervous about. It’s a hot and sunny day with only a slight breeze coming through the patio door next to you. You are trying to be good, to concentrate on your text and forget the fact that it’s July and that a lot of people are on vacation right now (what is it with your sense of timing that you get so busy when most people are on vacation?). But then there’s that sound coming through the window.
Splooooosssssh.
It’s a rich sound, alive, fat with pleasure and the essence of summertime. It sends shivers down your spine, ripples on your skin like a cooling wave. It’s violent and soft at the same time. It’s also a sexy sound. It calls you, it tells you how good it would make you feel, how it would shock your body first – which would respond with a little cry – and then wrap it up in goodness, making it feel light and agile and perfect.
Your fingers have to pause on the keyboard. Your eyes close. Sometimes, all you smell is the chlorine. Other times it’s the musty smell of a deep lake, the green scent of the slimy weeds.
Summertime. Your childhood. Plunging into a lake is the most exciting thing you can think of. First the shock, the water that surrounds you, that blurs your sight and plugs your ears. It’s another world down there but you’re not scared. Or maybe just a little. Your lips are shut tight, holding your breath, until you think you’re going to explode. And then you come up to the surface and the bright sky blinds you. The air feels like a slap across the face. You are coughing a little. Your eyelashes are heavy with drops of water and you can’t see very well. Slowly, you manage to breathe normally again. You feel good. Thrilled. You get out and dry yourself so that you can experience the shock once more. Like the first time. Every time.
This was the time before you worried about getting your hair wet, about losing your contacts, before you learned to swim like the old ladies, with soft strokes, the head high above the water.
You really need a good swim. And a bathing suit that makes you look good. But if you want money to buy a new bathing suit and a vacation, you better meet those deadlines.
So you close the patio door, avoid looking at the neighbor’s pool, turn your fan on and start typing again.
