Something In The Water

Early Morning Swim

About four hours after the truck-incident at the pool, the sun came up and the temperature started to rise. It was another hot, summer day. Matthew Morgan Styles had just rolled out of bed, hoping to enjoy another morning off before heading to work at the restaurant where he waited tables. He hoped to gain a lot in tips that night, since it was Saturday and weekends were usually his best nights. But it was so hot outside, he felt like he needed to start his day off right so he slipped into his swimming trunks and grabbed a towel from the bathroom. He put on his sandals and walked out. The main swimming pool was located near the center of the complex, but it was always crowded, especially this time of the year. There were tons of kids swimming in there, especially since the big pool had three diving boards. The pool was great and all, but Matt just didn't feel like dealing with three-dozen kids who were floating around the pool area where he wanted to swim and be left alone before another long, late night of dealing with demanding customers. So, he decided to go to the smaller, less-popular pool, which was located near the parking lot.

The small pool was not used that much. In fact, the management had actually discussed closing it, had it not been for a few retired folks who protested heavily against the idea. So, Matt wandered over to the smaller pool, and nobody else was there, which was exactly why he liked the pool so much. The only odd thing he noticed about the pool that morning was the fact that the fence had a large hole in it. In fact, the chain-linked fence was completely bent over from the top, as if something big and round and heavy had rolled over it. It seemed very weird. Did a car run into the fence from the parking lot?

Matt didn't think much of it as he set his towel on one of the lounge chairs and he removed the sandals from his feet. He then walked over to the steps, which were on the shallow end of the pool. He slowly stepped into the pool, giving his body the time to adjust to the water temperature. The water felt cold. In fact, it seemed unusually cold. But, no matter, it was always cold anyway, and he figured that he would get used to the temperature as soon as he would get immersed in it.

After a few moments, he was waist-deep in the water and he started swimming. It was great! He had the entire pool to himself and there was nobody around to bother him. He swam his laps from the shallow end to the deep end and back. He did that three times, which was his routine. However, he did notice that some parts of the pool felt warmer than others. It was as if some of the water seemed different. Another thing that seemed weird was that the longer Matt remained in the pool, the more energetic he was feeling. Normally, swimming in the pool would wear him out, but today, the opposite was true. Something weird was going on here!

About twenty minutes had gone by when Matt decided to float to the shallow end of the pool once again. He dove underwater and swam all the way to the other edge of the pool, which was the deep end. When he surfaced, he turned around and swam back to the opposite end on the shallow part, but completely submerged. Finally, he had enough, and he walked up the concrete steps and came out of the pool. He wandered over to the lounge chair and grabbed his towel, where he quickly dried off. He put on his sandals and walked back to his apartment.