Splash of return

Splash of Return

Grace hovered for a second, scanning the spectators, then tucked her wings tightly against her back and dived into the holding pool.  Even with a clean dive, the one-third gravity allows normally small ripples to originate with moderate height.  By the time they reach the pool’s border they are still large enough to splash hard against the retaining wall and reflect back towards the center.  The art of the dive is to remain submerged until the rebounding waves reach their antipodal point on the opposite side of the pool, then surface right through them as if shot forth from the resulting fountain.

Three flaps above the surface and she was back at the contestant’s perch.  The lack of enthusiastic applause from the small crowd told Grace her timing was not of Olympic quality.  Her coach’s passive gaze was more devastating than a tirade of rebuke.

“I know, I know.  Watch the wave pattern on the pool bottom to time my assent,” Grace said.

Coach Peckit said, “How long have you been doing this?  Ten years?  You seem to have forgotten the basics.  You were a second early and three feet off.”

“I’ve got two more dives.  I’ll do better next time.”

“They’ll have to be perfect,” the coach said, looking at the leader board. “You got almost no points for that one.”

Grace twittered her wings to shed the few drops remaining on them.  The rest of her body was not avian so she had to towel off her legs and arms.

As she walked toward the locker room her coach called out to her, “Be back at three.  The second round starts at three-thirty.”



Cardi swooped down from the arena entrance and landed with a flump in front of her.  “Did I miss it?  Is it over?  How’d you do?”

“You didn’t miss much.”

“Aw, gee, Grace.  You in another funk?”  He wrapped his wings around her.

“You weren’t here,” she sniffled.  “You know I can’t do anything right without you around.”  Then with a flash from her green eyes, “What the hell kept you?”  She pushed him away.

“I got hung up at work.”  Working in a higher “g” ring, his wings are broader than Grace’s and not as svelte.  So, when he refolded them, they protruded farther from his back.  “I couldn’t get away.”

“That damn Finch, knew I was competing.  He probably kept you there on purpose.”

“No, no.  He wasn’t even in today....  We had a development.”

“Well, I had a development, too.  I always develop the jitters when I compete.  I just couldn’t control my breath.”

“No control?  You are the essence of control.  If we can make love in mid-air, you can certainly control your breath.  You have perfect control.”

“Well, not today.  I broke for the surface way too soon.  I felt like I would drown.”

Cardi didn’t know what more to say.  He works as a communications specialist, but consoling a lover isn’t in his resume.  “Ah... maybe next time.  When’s the next round?”

“Have to be back by three.”

“A bit over an hour.  Good.  Let’s go up to Zero and just float for a while.  Relax.  Snuggle a bit.”

“I don’t need to be turned on.  I’m competing.  Besides, the air up there has been a little rank lately.”





Pages:      3

Words:    553

The words for July are: forth, broader, fountain.