Just Keep Swimming

A ghostly love story about repetitions and remedies where you least expect them.

Matthew loved to swim, awaking in the pre-dawn hours nearly every morning to swim laps at the YMCA just around the corner. This was a sacred place where his mind was clearest and his focus most resolute. Nothing could get to him here: not work or relationship woes or even the chaos that was modern politics. He cherished every minute, every stroke in the water.

It should have been of no surprise that he kept coming back even after he’d died from an aneurism in that very pool. Why should death put a hamper on his routine? Now that he didn’t have to worry about breathing, he could shave even more time off his laps. He would swim and swim and swim for hours without so much as looking up. Living swimmers would come and go with similar routines but Matthew never noticed them, and they didn’t seem to notice Matthew either.

Years after Matthew’s death, Oscar began his own swimming routine. Oscar loved to swim underwater, to be completely engulfed. It was of no coincidence that The Little Mermaid was his favorite film as a kid. One quiet morning, Oscar had too much going on in his head and tried to submerge those thoughts by sinking his body. In doing so, he accidentally stayed underwater longer than his lungs could accommodate.

When Oscar came to on the lip of the water, he blinked at the confusing figure over him. Matthew had not left the pool or his routine in many years, so he too was confused to have even noticed Oscar. This woke up something in Oscar and Matthew both, something they had each stopped looking for. Soon after the incident, they start swimming together every morning. Matthew’s drive pushes Oscar to swim faster and longer. Before long, Oscar didn’t need the submersion to quiet his thoughts. Matthew was enough.

They carried on this way for several years, chatting while they swam. Matthew even took breaks every now and again to let Oscar catch his breath. Many aspects of Oscar’s life changed during this time. Lovers came and went. Jobs and career opportunities were varied and sometimes hecticly changing. The wars at home and abroad ebbed and flowed. The one constant in Oscar’s life was Matthew. Neither of them had ever had a love so bright, but this one lit up the darkness of every winter morning they spent together.

One Winter Solstice, Oscar made the confession that he wanted to stay there with Matthew forever. He reflected on the event of their meeting. It would be easy enough to recreate it. Oscar had spent his years trying to be a creature of the land, but felt it was time to return to the water. Oscar joked it was almost the reverse of The Little Mermaid–to give up his life on land to be in the water with his love. As strong as their bond was, Matthew refused to let Oscar die. After all, it was Oscar's lively spirit that Matthew had fallen for. “What’s the rush?” Matthew asked, and Oscar had no answer.

Shortly after this heart-to-heart–as the days grew longer and the sunrises came earlier–something unexpected happened to Oscar. Oscar met someone who gave his life a renewed sense of awe and purpose. Though he wasn’t looking for it, Oscar found something to live for. Matthew loved seeing Oscar grow and change and live. On the mornings Oscar slept in or went out to brunch with friends, Matthew returned to his solo swimming practice with a contentment he’d never had before Oscar.

Oscar still goes to the pool at least once a week, having never lost the spark of love with Matthew in that sacred space they created together. However much time they get together, Matthew adores that he gets to see Oscar so brimming with happiness. Oscar’s husband even joins them every now and again. Though the new husband hasn’t met Matthew, they both share how much joy the other brings to Oscar, satisfied to know the love of their lives is happy because of the other. They swim together quietly, taking in each new day with a peace none of them could have fathomed alone.