Swimming Stories

,            about 2300 words James Foleyfarandthen@gmail.comwww.beyondthewind.comwww.mywarlove.com Machiavelli and Brexitby James Foley In Melbourne, Florida, the east wall of the Eau Gallie Public Library is sheer glass—facing the Intracoastal Waterway and the causeway soaring across it. And I remember how, on a September morning in 2017, this breathtaking view kept distracting me from Martin Andros’s voice as he read p...

We boil spring water to make tea, Sitting on a grassy knoll above the water.The waterfall continues as it has always done,Ten thousand years with little change.How many lovers have sat as we have,Happy and content above this spring?I'm a cautious man,But this woman's a water dragon.She takes off all her clothes,And leaps in from our heights above.AD 865

Laurence Cullen had icy blue eyes, thick black hair, and a wild temper that was encouraged by his Russian mother’s doting and his Irish father’s genes. “I rebuilt it, you didn’t pay for it, it’s mine and you can’t have it back until you pay me for it, but I think I’ll throw it in that truck over there, and once it’s in, I’m not takin’ it back out for you,” the mechanic said. “Bullshit,” Laurence said as he walked into the...

WHAT SUMMER MEANS TO ME Summer means no school. Summer means having to mow your yard instead of going fishing or swimming. And to make matters worse, my tightwad father don't hardly pay me a thing for all that work. He claims riding around on a John Deere for a couple of hours isn't some kind of cruel and unusual punishment. And he also says he won't pay me time-and-a-half for hazardous duty. Someday I’m going to turn him...

Mike hung by his toes at the edge of the quarry. He took a deep breath and pictured himself diving into the milky water 20 feet below. The water was said to be 50 feet deep at its center but neither he nor any of his friends knew how deep the water was just below the cliff. Once he dove, the only way out was a five mile swim across to the outcropping they used for swimming on hot days.“Go for it Mike!” said Charlie, and t...