THE POOL CLEANER: SHORT FICTION BY JOHN LONGSTOCKING

With short-short fiction by John Longstocking (formerly John Barrios), 2GQ kicks off our Domestic Terror series, featuring fiction, performance documentation, and other art that takes a challenging approach to the well-worn subjects of home and family.

We like Longstocking and his writing so much, in fact, that we've invited him to join 2GQ as a regular writer. Look for him on a blog post near you. And now, onto the story...

THE POOL CLEANER

Short fiction by John Longstocking (formerly John Barrios)

Gordon was cleaning his pool. First he let out all the water. He did this by putting one end of the hose in the water and sucking out of the other until water flowed from his pool through the hose and into the bushes behind the pool.

Then he climbed into the pool and washed the walls and the floor with a scrub brush and plenty of soap. He hosed out the soap and let it rinse through the drain. The next day he repeated the scrubbing.

"What are you going to do now?" asked his wife the next evening.

"I'm not sure."

"It sure looks clean."

"Yeah."

"I haven't seen it look that clean since we first had it put in."

"I know, it's clean."

He walked out the back patio and looked up to the sky. It was a dark pale sky full of couds. No stars. Crickets and the swallowing of beer were the sounds of night. His wife did the dishes. When she was finished she smoked with him.

"I talked to Larry this afternoon. He said he wants to buy Linda's car. He can use it for his daughter."

His wife took a long drag and went on, "I told him I had to talk to you first, but that it would probably be all right. What do you think?"

He finished the last gulp of beer and said, "That sounds like a good idea. If his daughter needs the car, then I think it's a very good idea."

"I'll call him tomorrow and let him know."

He opened another beer from his six pack.

"You should come in soon," his wife said. "It looks like it's going
to rain tonight."

"I'll be in later. I want to watch."

His wife put out her cigarette and went inside. He heard the television come on and he knew it would be on all night. He would watch the rain and then go in and go to bed. His wife watched television until she finished her pack of cigarettes and then joined him in bed.

In the morning he found the pool full again with the previous night's rain. He got the hose out and began draining before breakfast. The people who installed the pool were coming that afternoon to fill it up with dirt. He wasn't taking any more chances. He planned on putting in a vegetable garden or a flower bed.

At breakfast he sat in Linda's chair and wept over his bowl of corn flakes. His wife slept in until noon.

Comments

[John Longstocking]

Thanks for all the nice comments. I look forward what "Domestic Terror" will produce throughout the year. JL

[tiffany lee brown]

hey thanks for the comments, folks. i am very pleased with Mr. Longstocking's excellent work. and coming up in February we will have Kristy Athens -- she'll also be reading here in Portland on Wednesday, February 20 at Barnes and Noble.

[Archiekins]

This story's amazing. Longstocking's got the touch of Raymond Carver with the wry social observations of, well, Longstocking himself. Brilliant stuff: Thanks for posting it.

[Kristy Athens]

Good work--I like things that can get to the point and yet tell a bigger story than is on the page (screen)!