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Aquawooing
by Zsolt Stanik

This was a lovely sunny day. Not a cloud in the sky. Town and city streets void of anyone except those who have to go about their jobs. Anyone who could be was down by the lake. The small island situated on a winding, dead-end arm of the local river is overcrowded and seems to be only a minute away from sinking. In the centre of the islet surrounded by fairytale grass and trees, sits the swimming pool, its surface reflecting the blue sky.
 
Lena, the blue-eyed fifty years old with the attractive body and head of blonde hair is the sole occupant of the pool on that summer day. The crowd is far away. The solitary swimmer is waiting for her husband, a sixty year old who has decided to go for a sauna. In the heat of the day he prefers a place where he won’t be disturbed by anybody. His wife is hoping for the same thing in the swimming pool. They will be discussing the matter of solitude later on.
 
Madam Lena felt well in the pool. In her younger days she had been an ace swimmer, in middle age she kept her figure by playing tennis, squash and cycling. She felt great. Having covered several lengths of the pool she turned around and sat down on the concrete bank.
 
From the opposite direction a head of dark hair was swimming towards her. Breaststroke, nice try, not too good, Lena thought. There was nothing and nobody around and so Lena watched the head, which approached and then lifted itself from the pool onto to the concrete bank. A man, what else! No niceties were exchanged, not even a pleasant hello. The man didn’t say anything, but just stared at Lena. The face of a man in his sixties was not only staring but also making clear advances, winking and indicating that they were alone in the middle of the island and alone in the swimming pool – well what do you think, madam. Madam Lena, into her third marriage, knew exactly what this was all about.
 
This boorish manner of establishing social contact was not her cup of tea. However, with nothing else to do she thought she would teach the man a lesson in her own way, and consequently, she started swimming to the other side of the pool. No doubt the wooer would follow. She soon arrived on the other side of the pool. The head followed, rising from the water and continued winking and making faces indicating his intentions. Lena swam back and forth and the man followed staying further and further behind, evidently becoming more and more exhausted in the process. His mouth was now wide open and he was totally out of breath.
 
Not a pleasant sight, Lena thought and decided this was the final round. Exhaustion resulted in a navigation error and now the head, mouth wide open, eyes staring, was swimming straight towards her, mimicking constantly. At that moment his dentures decided to part with his upper jaw, leaving a gaping void for the eyes of the lady to behold. The man was evidently out of breath. Struggling for his dentures and his life, this was no hero to admire. At that moment, any possible simmering passion had been eliminated. Lena watched the dentures sink deeper and deeper to the bottom of the pool, while the man’s stamina only took him to mid- depth. Lena could easily have helped, but she decided to let the man fight for dentures, life and lady.
 
Finally, he emerged with dentures in hand. Took a last glimpse of the, would be victim, and turned away. The battle had been lost. The breaststroke improved and with dentures held tightly in one fist he disappeared to the other end of the swimming pool.
 
Lena’s sweet face now mimicked his previous advances and took away her lovely face and body with quick, trained crawl-strokes. He was no match for this lady…this, they both understood.