"If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do all the rest have to drown too? "

Tonight we'll celebrate Bastille Day. I have my menu set so now I just have to grocery shop. I was trying to figure how to build a miniature Bastille and maybe a guillotine, but I figured that was just too over the top. I'll do my music later.

The town pool was about as far away from my house as you could get and still be in the same town. It had the big pool where I used to go and a children's wading pool with a fountain in the middle and benches all around where the mothers always sat. The big pool had a diving board at one end while the other end, the shallow end, wasn't really all that shallow. I once dived off the board and hit the bottom so hard my teeth went through my lip. I was eleven. It scared me off the board for a while. When you walked inside the door to pay your dime, all you could smell was chlorine. The changing rooms were to the left and right. Girls were to the left. These room had metal baskets where we used to put our clothes and our shoes. The basket number was on a small metal square on the front. The basket key came with a bracelet we could wear around our wrists. Outside, the concrete around the pool was always hot on my feet. I'd find a spot, lay my towel down then check the water temperature. Cold water meant easing in while warm meant all at once. My brother and I would stay all afternoon. By the time we left, our eyes were bloodshot from opening them under water, and our fingertips were totally wrinkled. If my mother had the money, we'd take the bus home. If not, it was a long, tiring walk after a day of playing in the water.