I am at at a riverside lodge. It is an old rustic place constructed of logs and old and musty slats of redwood nestled among giant redwood trees. It has an air of familiarity - many guests have stayed there during the late summer months. But now it is late spring. The air is comfortably warm and the staff have time to pursue their hobbies and, occasionally, trysts. My job is unclear but that does not matter to me.
I am instead fascinated by the wide calm river that runs next to the resort. The river is separated from the resort by banks of stone. The stones are jagged but with round edges. A person can comfortably scramble among them without fear of injury unless they decide to jump -the rock ledges are steep. I have a route through them which leads to my own secret place beside the river.
The river is dark brown/green. It s not possible to see inside it. The river is calm with a very very slight current flowing to the right if a person stands looking at it with their back to the lodge. The river is about two city blocks wide. It is not deep. A person can cross it easily with the water rising no more than their necks. Like the resort, the river exudes age and familiarity.
I am at my secret place beside the river. I wade slowly into the river. It has a sandy bottom. The river is slightly warmer than body heat. I wade out further until the river rises to my chin. I then orient myself to swim with the current. I am swimming on my back, taking leisurely backstrokes. I am in perfect harmony with the river and my swimming and the rocky shores with the giant redwoods behind them.
I am in one of many rooms in the lodge. I am talking with a young woman who is busy polishing some object. I cannot see the object but I do not care to see it. I am flirting with her. She smiles but politely rebuffs me. I leave her alone and ramble through the many rooms of the lodge. I see other staff working on various projects. I sometimes stop to speak of trivialities.
I am slowly swimming in the river. From the shore Kelly asks me if the water is cold. I tell her it is perfect. She wades in and begins a slow breast stroke. She reaches me. I am swimming slowly on my back and I smile back at her. Kelly and her husband lived above my apartment before I moved to the lodge. Kelly points out a boat moving against the current, I tell her that it is a barge and that I have seen it before. In fact has been a common sight every time I have been in the river. It is always on the other side of the river from where I swim in the water. The barge moves so slowly that it never leaves a wake.
Kelly and I continue to swim together. I become keenly aware of how alluring she is. Kelly is wearing a two-piece bathing suit ad looks twenty rather than her actual age of sixty. I ask her if she wants to make love. She declines but is clearly flattered by the pass. No ill air or tension arises between us. We continue our serene swim in the warm river.
We come upon the ruins of what might have been an old water mill or something. It is made of broken cinder blocks and concrete. It is on our left not far from us. I ask Kelly if she wants to explore it. She is hesitant but agrees, anyway. We wade slowly to the old building and climb up the rocks to see it.
The climb is awkward. There no direct route which means that we need to find one. I scramble among the rocks looking for a pass while Kelly remains in the water near the shore. I explore several possible routes through the rocks and come to impassible dead ends. Finally I find a way up through the rocks and call to Kelly. She follows in my footsteps. We are reunited on a ledge of the ruin.
The environs of the ruin are not empty. Kelly and I see a digging operation off in the distance. It seems to be a strip mining operation. We turn our attention to the ruins around us. There is a small room accessible via a broken down wooden door. We go in. It is clearly inhabited by someone who is not there at the time. Kelly wants to return to the river but my curiosity is piqued. I look into an old box sitting next to a Victrola. There are some papers with ragged edges in it. I cannot make out what they say. An old single bed is in one corner of the room. It has well worn blankets on it and the bed is unmade.
Kelly is increasingly nervous and insists that we return to the river. I reluctantly tear myself away from the room and follow her back to the river. We continue to swim and chat about small things. The current is a little faster than before and we speculate whether it ends in a waterfall. But we laugh at this possibility and continue to swim and talk together. Kelly changes to a backward stroke like me. I am once again reminded of how attractive she is.
The barge approaches us and we decide to climb aboard to see what it carries. Two salty seamen appear. They are friendly but clearly want us to leave the barge. We jump back into the river and decide to head back to the lodge. The trip is without disturbance. Just me and Kelly swimming quietly and leisurely.
I am in the lodge. Guests will be arriving soon so there is a flurry of activity. All are involved in something. I have no duties it seems so I just mill about as if I had a chore.
The guests arrive and all is in order for them. My job is to be a guide for the lodge museum. I show guests around the room which contains paintings and old maps on the walls. There are also various antiques on tables covered with glass. I gather them to look out of the large window to view the magnificent waterfall that falls into the river. I am very disappointed by this. I have always thought that the river had no noisy interruptions like a waterfall. I accept this nevertheless. The river is not entirely serene after all. I am sad.
I wake up.
I am instead fascinated by the wide calm river that runs next to the resort. The river is separated from the resort by banks of stone. The stones are jagged but with round edges. A person can comfortably scramble among them without fear of injury unless they decide to jump -the rock ledges are steep. I have a route through them which leads to my own secret place beside the river.
The river is dark brown/green. It s not possible to see inside it. The river is calm with a very very slight current flowing to the right if a person stands looking at it with their back to the lodge. The river is about two city blocks wide. It is not deep. A person can cross it easily with the water rising no more than their necks. Like the resort, the river exudes age and familiarity.
I am at my secret place beside the river. I wade slowly into the river. It has a sandy bottom. The river is slightly warmer than body heat. I wade out further until the river rises to my chin. I then orient myself to swim with the current. I am swimming on my back, taking leisurely backstrokes. I am in perfect harmony with the river and my swimming and the rocky shores with the giant redwoods behind them.
I am in one of many rooms in the lodge. I am talking with a young woman who is busy polishing some object. I cannot see the object but I do not care to see it. I am flirting with her. She smiles but politely rebuffs me. I leave her alone and ramble through the many rooms of the lodge. I see other staff working on various projects. I sometimes stop to speak of trivialities.
I am slowly swimming in the river. From the shore Kelly asks me if the water is cold. I tell her it is perfect. She wades in and begins a slow breast stroke. She reaches me. I am swimming slowly on my back and I smile back at her. Kelly and her husband lived above my apartment before I moved to the lodge. Kelly points out a boat moving against the current, I tell her that it is a barge and that I have seen it before. In fact has been a common sight every time I have been in the river. It is always on the other side of the river from where I swim in the water. The barge moves so slowly that it never leaves a wake.
Kelly and I continue to swim together. I become keenly aware of how alluring she is. Kelly is wearing a two-piece bathing suit ad looks twenty rather than her actual age of sixty. I ask her if she wants to make love. She declines but is clearly flattered by the pass. No ill air or tension arises between us. We continue our serene swim in the warm river.
We come upon the ruins of what might have been an old water mill or something. It is made of broken cinder blocks and concrete. It is on our left not far from us. I ask Kelly if she wants to explore it. She is hesitant but agrees, anyway. We wade slowly to the old building and climb up the rocks to see it.
The climb is awkward. There no direct route which means that we need to find one. I scramble among the rocks looking for a pass while Kelly remains in the water near the shore. I explore several possible routes through the rocks and come to impassible dead ends. Finally I find a way up through the rocks and call to Kelly. She follows in my footsteps. We are reunited on a ledge of the ruin.
The environs of the ruin are not empty. Kelly and I see a digging operation off in the distance. It seems to be a strip mining operation. We turn our attention to the ruins around us. There is a small room accessible via a broken down wooden door. We go in. It is clearly inhabited by someone who is not there at the time. Kelly wants to return to the river but my curiosity is piqued. I look into an old box sitting next to a Victrola. There are some papers with ragged edges in it. I cannot make out what they say. An old single bed is in one corner of the room. It has well worn blankets on it and the bed is unmade.
Kelly is increasingly nervous and insists that we return to the river. I reluctantly tear myself away from the room and follow her back to the river. We continue to swim and chat about small things. The current is a little faster than before and we speculate whether it ends in a waterfall. But we laugh at this possibility and continue to swim and talk together. Kelly changes to a backward stroke like me. I am once again reminded of how attractive she is.
The barge approaches us and we decide to climb aboard to see what it carries. Two salty seamen appear. They are friendly but clearly want us to leave the barge. We jump back into the river and decide to head back to the lodge. The trip is without disturbance. Just me and Kelly swimming quietly and leisurely.
I am in the lodge. Guests will be arriving soon so there is a flurry of activity. All are involved in something. I have no duties it seems so I just mill about as if I had a chore.
The guests arrive and all is in order for them. My job is to be a guide for the lodge museum. I show guests around the room which contains paintings and old maps on the walls. There are also various antiques on tables covered with glass. I gather them to look out of the large window to view the magnificent waterfall that falls into the river. I am very disappointed by this. I have always thought that the river had no noisy interruptions like a waterfall. I accept this nevertheless. The river is not entirely serene after all. I am sad.
I wake up.
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