Midnight Pools

by James Terry

It was my last summer in Deming and I was feeling low. All I wanted was to get the hell out. But I had to work and save money. In August I'd be in LA.

I was the groundskeeper at the Municipal Pool. I picked up the candy wrappers the kids chucked to the ground as they waited to get in. Sometimes there was a broken bottle, some cigarette butts, other stuff. I had to chop weeds too. When I ran out of easy stuff I worked on the shrub. It was old and dead. The City wanted it out of there. They said it was an eyesore. Sherry, my boss, didn't really give a shit. She told me to take my time. It wasn't any rush. She didn't want me having a heat stroke. So I'd go out and hack on it every couple days with the pickaxe.




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