John Persons Pool Party Hot! May 2026

“I’m in the water right now,” John said, gesturing at the pool.

She walked away. The hedge closed behind her. John stood alone among the roses and listened to the party continue without him. He heard Linda’s laugh, high and bright, the laugh she used when she was pretending everything was fine. He heard Kevin’s son ask for another hot dog. He heard the filter pump of the pool, humming its steady, mechanical heart, scrubbing the water clean of everything that had ever been inside it.

John smiled. “Going great,” he said. “Lots of interviews.” john persons pool party

“It’s a twenty-two-foot Chaparral,” Kevin said. “Twin engines. She’ll do sixty knots on a calm day.”

There was Kevin, the neighbor from three doors down, who brought his own beer and asked John within the first four minutes, “So, how’s the job hunt?” “I’m in the water right now,” John said,

Instead, he said, “In a minute.”

This was a lie. There had been one interview, three months ago, for a regional manager position at a chain of mattress stores. The interviewer was twenty-two years old and asked John if he was “comfortable with disruption.” John had laughed. The interview ended seven minutes later. John stood alone among the roses and listened

The stars turned slowly overhead.