A friend asked me to house-sit his enormous house. It was big enough to have a swimming pool both inside and in the garden, but he preferred the community swimming pool so he had not built one for himself. I could stay in the house but I did not need to be inside all day, I was free to make myself at home and have a life outside as well.
It was summer, a very hot summer. On my first day I got up early and the morning was fresh, the sky was of a deep wonderful blue and it did not have clouds. The sun gave a clear light that did not burn yet, but I knew it would in a few hours, closer to midday. It was ok now but I needed to hurry to do things because I knew that it would be hard to do things later.
I went out to the garden and I saw some one get out of the house I was sitting. I assumed he was some other person that had been house sitting that night. We said hello, and I resolved to get acquainted to that fellow when he would come back and he would not be in a hurry to leave, surely with the same urgency I had to avoid the central hours of the day.
I was active for one more hour and then I reassessed the day. There was still one more hour of bearable temperatures, although the day had already begun to get a bit hotter. I had to prepare for those burning hours.
It occurred to me that I could go to the swimming pool, see what happened if I got inside water. Hopefully the water would keep fresh from the previous night.
I went to the sports complex where the pools were. It was empty; it was still morning. I could choose wherever I wanted to put my towel on the grass and sit. The pools were empty too; only the care taker was making sure the water was ok in advance of the rush hour.
I heard that Mr. Bull had died, and I learnt the details of it.
I left my towel and most of my things in the pitch I had chosen and left the sports complex, sure that I would come back. I had to do something at home before I could simply step out of my duties for the difficult hours of the day.
On my way back to the pool, I found Robert also on his way to the pool. There was some kind of a procession; lots of people were heading to the sports complex to spend the hottest hours of the day. Robert was now a few hundreds metres ahead of me in the crows. He was walking alongside Mr. Bull, and they were talking, normally having a conversation. But I knew Mr. Bull to be dead, so it must be his ghost Robert was talking to. I thought it would be harder for Robert to find out about Mr. Bull’s death as he was talking to him than afterwards realise he had been talking to his ghost, so I decided to let it be, and I didn’t run towards him to break the news. I knew he would understand later that Mr. Bull had come back to have a last word.
Now that it was rush hour, there were guards at the entrance, asking every one either for their purchased ticket or their weekly or monthly pass. I had to tell them that I had been by the pool earlier and all my things were there. They allowed me in to fetch my pass and then come back to show it to them.
My pass consisted on a photocard the size of a Job Seekers Allowance booklet, all in a double plastic wallet, with one compartment for the fotocard and another one for additional paperwork. All of it was transparent, so it was easy to see what documents were inside.
They wanted to check that it was valid and I was not cheating. They examined the photocard and saw that my face and the one shown there were similar enough. They opened and closed my transparent plastic wallet and saw most of the required paperwork.
“What you don’t have is the queistionnaire”
The questionnaire was a survey the municipality had carried out to know the views and needs of the population. Answering it had been a requirement to gain period passes to the sports complex. I had done the questionnaire, and a copy of my answers, which was what the guards were asking for, was in the compartment of the wallet dedicated to additional paperwork. I said it was inside and indicated a pocket they had not seen before. They took out the folded piece of paper that contained the questions with answers and examined it. They gave it for good, and with it they gave me permission to get in.
It was now peak hour in the swimming pools. As well as the swimming pools there was an area where water was sprayed upwards, so people could feel the fresh water on their bodies without having to swim.
I went to the swimming pool in the middle. Not the smallest one with only enough water to submerge the legs up to the knee, and not the biggest one about four metres deep. Of course the middle pool was the most crowded. As some point I considered going to the biggest pool. It was more dangerous but it was almost empty and it looked like it would be more pleasurable to swim there.
I went and still had some issue with the people who were already there. I got out as soon as the midday hours had passed and headed home.
I met Robert, who was now alone. I broke the news to him. He protested that he had been talking to Mr. Bull hours after the time I was saying that he had died. I looked at him. We stayed in silence for a few seconds. Maybe minutes. He understood. For a few seconds his eyes grew wild open, his face contorted with pain. Then he relaxed and he looked at peace.
I thought it would be more painful to tell you there and then, I said. All is well, he answered.