the Guard
a young man, a lifeguard at the pool
stands in front of the office door
as if to guard it so no one gets in
or maybe to guard it so no one gets out
either way
he stands with a towel in his hand
a tight grip keeping it balled up
as if something is being hidden inside
or something is being guarded inside
just like the office
a lady comes over to the door
she needs to get in and grab some paper work
the guard asks her to be quick
as she walks in she sees a boy
he's watching tv
this young boy sits on the couch
he watches tv silently
she asks what he is doing in the office
and the guard tells her that he is in trouble
or he's going to be
the other guards start to talk
they don't know what is going on
but the manager knows it is very important
and she trusts the guard
just enough
they all saw him walk to the playground
they all saw he walk back to the office
he had the boy with him on his way back
along with the towel he won't let go
why won't he let it go
on her way to the concession stand
the guard asks another to get him some water
she makes a joke but he doesn't laugh
he asks her for some water again
she says ok
she brings the water back and hands it to him
he says thanks and returns to his post
on guard at the office door
no one leaves, no one enters
except one woman
she pulls her car up to the no parking zone
another guard tells her she needs to move
but the one guard says it's ok
and they enter into the office
with the boy
they are in there for a while
apparently they are all talking
you could hear something from the other side of the window
but not enough to make out what's going on
but they are talking
they talk for about an hour
during which time the shift changes
but the guards don't leave
they want to know what is going on
in that office
just as some decide they'll find out later
the door slowly opens up
the boy walks out first with teary eyes
he wipes his reddened face and sniffles a little bit
he must have cried
a minute later the woman walks out
she too has teary eyes and a red face
but she has a different feel about her
as she holds her purse in close to her
guarding it
the lifeguard also has a different feel about him
he no longer holds the towel in his hand
he walks, now without weight, with the woman and boy to the car,
the woman holds the boy close and he does not resist
they are going home
he walks back to the office
and asks the person at the PA to call the manager
he must now talk to her about what happened
so she comes to the office
and they talk
the other lifeguards begin to leave again
when the manager comes back out of the office
followed by the lifeguard
they whisper a bit and he grabs his bag
so he can leave
he walks to his car, gets in slowly, starts it up
and he then drives off toward home
the rest of the lifeguards ponder what must have happened
but the manager tells them it was really nothing
at least for them to worry about
so they all drive home for the day
most take off down the road in one direction
but one of them has to go the other way
she passes the lifeguard who's on the side of the road
crying |