Into the Blue

Magpie #42

His wrinkled, leathery hands grasped the 75-year-old trophy gently. Memories of a humid summer day, blue water, and boys in swimming shorts lined in a row surge in.

Henry swam in the 2nd lane from the left. His friend, Jimmy, was in the lane next to him. Both swam like fish. They spent every waking moment of their summers swimming. None of the other swimmers were even in their league.

Who would win? It wasn't about the trophy. Henry had other first place trophies. It wasn't about beating his friend. Jimmy was a good guy; they had fun competing. He didn't want to annihilate Jimmy, just win.

It was something more. Something inside of Henry wanting to win, to be the best, to do better than he thought possible. He knew he had it inside of him.

With that last thought, the starting pistol went off. Henry dove into the blue.

Photo credit: Willow @ http://magpietales.blogspot.com/2010/11/mag-42.html