Captain Pike's Ship Log II

Chapter 2 -- Theft

One day, when he returned from the pool to his locker in the men's changing room, he discovered his wallet, his watch and a small pocket knife that he carried to be missing from his belongings. He reported the theft to the attendant at the desk near the pool office. He was told that most people used a combination lock to secure their belongings while using the pool. "We can't watch every kid that comes through here, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch", the lady had said when he insisted that he had never had this happen before. His wallet was actually discovered by a janitor emptying the trash. Of course, all his cash had been stolen and his university ID had been moved to the position where his currency had been. He couldn't seem to get the idea out of his mind that while he was swimming somebody had been rifling through his belongings. Rather than buy a combination lock, Anthony placed all of his dry items into a gym bag and carried it to the pool when he swam. Some times, as he reached the end of the pool where his gym bag lie, he bobbed his head briefly up out of the water to assure himself that no one had taken it. This got to be a nuisance. He would be swimming down the lane, approaching the end where his gym bag was, telling himself that nobody would be foolish enough to try stealing his belongings from the end of the pool. But with each stroke, the urge to look up grew stronger and stronger. Even when he was able to perform his fluid kick turn, the ensuing lap was fettered with feelings of uneasiness of people watching him, or planning to steal from him. What had been an insulated escape from the busy, loud and multicolored world of the upright, had become a forced floundering in chlorinated, gasping drippiness. He would leave the pool irritated and wet, not wanting to stay around even long enough to dry off properly. Walking from the pool area to his truck, he fumed with resentment: not only was he mad to have had his stuff stolen, but that his swimming routine had been so interfered with that it was hardly enjoyable anymore. He was mad at himself for being so paranoid. He decided to stop going to the pool altogether.

He thought of going to the pool many times, but avoided it for at least two weeks. It wasn't until he was finishing up his laundry one day, placing his unfolded items along with the detergent and fabric softener containers into his laundry bag that he happened upon an idea. He remembered an old canvas bag that he used during his brief membership in the Boy Scouts. The bag was made of a canvas type material, only it was vulcanized -- coated in a thin layer of rubber, waterproofed.