The day was so hot and humid for late August, and Freddy couldn’t wait until he got out of school. He and his friends were going to swim in the strip pit near Old Man Section’s place. The water there was cold and clear, and you could dive in from an outcropping that somehow was left behind by the drag lines. The strip pit was old, and it was illegal to swim in it. Nowadays, when they pulled coal out of the ground, they backfilled the hole and planted trees so it looked like nothing happened there.
Freddy ran across his field and joined his friends, Nate and Stuey, near the pit. They walked quietly through the woods that lined Old Man Section’s land, sweat pouring down their foreheads and backs. When they came out onto the glorious strip pit, they each gave a shout of excitement and began removing their clothes. No swim trunks needed here, just boxers or your good old birthday suit.
Halfway through undressing, Old Man Section himself came out into the clearing.
“I thought I might find you boys out here, getting ready to break the law,” he said, wiping the sweat from his face. “You know you can’t swim in this pit. I have told you a hunnerd times, its dangerous and something horrible could happen.”
The boys moaned and shook their heads, “But Mr. Section, Sir,” Freddy piped up quickly, “You gotta let us. Please don’t tell our folks. Its a scorcher and we got to have some relief. You know the ac isn’t working at my place. And Nate and Stuey have the animals to feed later. You gotta let us, please, you gotta,” all the boys started pleading with him. They could see the heat was making him irritable, but also wearing him out. Section was too tired to even argue.
“Oh, fine, just don’t die,” he said and flopped down under a nearby tree. “I’ll watch you from here, just to make sure nobody drowns.”
The boys screamed with joy and jumped off the outcropping, one by one until they were all swimming in the cold, deep water. Section grunted in pleasure, seeing their happiness. After a few minutes, he rose and began to disrobe, stripping down to his boxers. Without a word, he walked to the outcropping and dived into the water, surprising the youngsters.
He swam across the pit, and walked out to sun himself on a large patch of grass.
Freddy swam over to him. “I didn’t know you swam in the pit, Mr. Section.”
“Oh my, yes. I been swimmin’ in this little lake since I was a boy ’bout your age.”
“Mr. Section, Sir,” Freddy began, “did you really come down here to catch us breaking the law, or was that some kinda hoax? Did you really come down here to swim yourself?” he asked, incredulous.
“Oh, you always were the smart one, Freddy,” Section laughed, and he pulled a couple of inner tubes out from behind a tree, sliding one to Freddy and gliding back into the water with the other one for himself. The strip pit echoed with their laughter and splashing, the happy sounds bouncing off the trees and blowing in the breeze.
Copyright ©2025 Lisa Paul
Written in response to Fandango’s One Word Challenge – Dive – and Pensitivity’s Three Things Challenge – humid, hoax and horrible
#FOWC challenge word today is Dive
#3TC challenge words today are humid, hoax, horrible
A Little Bit of Everything, With Love 