G/t I Guess

🏊‍♂️

Winston stifled a yawn.

It was kinda late, but the aquatics department was only open until 9:00.

Growing even more sleepy in this tired state, he glanced at the clock; 8:53. For not the first time, he was mentally astonished by how a job so important could be so boring. Lifeguarding was easy, for the most part, and nothing too exciting ever really happened, for which he was thankful. That only meant that no accidents were happening and he didn't have to save any lives, and that was perfectly fine. That only meant that the YMCA patrons were content and safe, and that was enough.

His co worker Isaac momentarily caught his attention with a jingling sound, shaking the lanyard of keys, wordlessly saying lock up before you leave with a cheerful but equally tired face before setting them down on the guard stand. Winston nodded and gave him a thumbs up as Isaac gathered up his things and waved, turning to leave a few minutes early. He returned the gesture lazily with a small grin and turned back to thoughtlessly gaze at the still waters of his empty pool, letting his eyes wander from one end to the other, subconsciously noticing Isaac's noises upon his quiet but eager, swiftly-paced exit.

Suddenly, a small sound. In his lethargic state, Winston almost missed it, but it was there, just at the edge of his hearing, under the droning hum of the fan on the wall. He'd barely caught it, a quick, soft yelp, followed by an almost undetectable splish.

The noise sounded close, and in one motion he turned to look in the sound's direction, getting concerned when he realized it likely came right from the side of the pool, where new ripples in the water appeared. The edge of the pool deck was obscuring his vision of the water, so, in an effort to look at what he couldn't see, he moved quickly to lean over and kneel on the floor of the deck to better scan the pool.

Winston had to take a second to blink his eyes in surprise, then he had to blink again in surprise that he wasn't imagining it. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It wasn't possible, there was no way. There was no way that a miniature person was underwater, nearby the pool wall, sinking deeper and deeper, and seemingly struggling to reach the surface.

Whatever it was, it wasn't normally in the pool and needed to be extricated from the water, so almost by instinct Winston swiftly reached into the pool and made a fist around the tiny thing, being careful not to squeeze too hard in the case it was really alive. He moved his hand out of the water and near to his face. Upon closer inspection and yet another blink of disbelief, the little thing had a short-lived coughing fit, and there was no doubt: this was a person.

After a second to actually process the situation, it soon became clear to be a very scared person, "panicked", "terrified" even came to mind, so Winston shifted both his hands to cup underneath him(at least it looked somewhat male) and let him sit in his palms. No good making him feel trapped.

He couldn't have been more than 4 inches tall, maybe even 3; curled up in the scared little ball he was, it was hard to tell. He was also shaking violently, practically vibrating, from cold or terror, Winston couldn't tell.

"Hey, hey shh, are you ok?" He finally broke the silence gently and tried his best to comfort the poor guy.

The boy flinched at his words, still shaking, not quite sure how to respond to the giant human that just pulled him out of a cold pool. Not knowing what else to do, he shakily started to nod before shutting his eyes tight and snugly embracing himself, wishing to disappear forever from this nightmare and forget it ever happened.

"Oh man, you must be freezing, hang on-" Winston quickly took notice of the tiny boy's body language and was suddenly overwhelmed by a surprisingly powerful desire to help him and keep him safe. Trying his best to move quickly but carefully, Winston got to his feet and walked over to the towel rack next to the rest of his things. After taking one out and unfolding most of it, he anxiously deposited the boy onto it, setting the package onto the nearby shelf. The shelf only really came up to Winston's knee, so in an attempt to tower over him at least a little less, he kneeled down to the floor, now about at his eye level and checked him over again, this time taking it all in.