It was sweltering outside and I was sweating my ass off working in the conditions.
I'm Trevor, a 23-year-old recent college graduate without a job. I moved in with my folks while I continued looking for solid employment. I started taking odd jobs on the side to make a little cash in the meantime.
That's why I was trying to mow a lawn in temperatures reaching the upper nineties.
The house I was working at belonged to a family friend out of town for the summer.
I was keeping an eye on the place and maintaining the yard for some pretty good scratch. Today, however, I was questioning if it was worth it.
I stopped for a minute and took off my shirt. I'm in pretty good shape. I'm 5'9", 160 and with all the outdoors work I'd been logging I was developing a pretty nice tan.
I started the mower again and finished up another row. I noticed someone come out of a sliding glass door one house over.
The backyards touch, and despite a few trees, are open to each other guarded by trees behind. It's far enough from the road that it's very secluded and quiet, aside from the damn lawn mower.
I mowed down and turned back to face the other yard again. The neighbors had an above ground pool with a deck that connected to the house. It was a nice setup just made for parties.
The person who had come out of the house was standing down on the deck by the pool. It was a young guy, probably in high school. He tossed a floating raft into the pool and eased his way in up to his chest.
He noticed me and waved a friendly hello. I waved back and continued in my task, desperately wishing I could jump into that pool to cool off.
I kept mowing for about fifteen minutes while the kid next door floated in his pool.
I stopped to remove the bag and when it caught on the mower's frame, grass spilled everywhere.
I yelled and kicked the bag drawing the attention of the neighbor boy.
I turned the mower off so I could clear some grass clogged underneath near the blade. I flipped the device right side up and reattached the bag.
"You look like you could use a dip!"
I turned and he was smiling at me.
"Yeah man, I'm jealous."
"You should come over and go for a swim."
"Actually, I'd love to but I've got to finish this first," I said gesturing toward the remaining lawn.
"Well, come over afterwards. I'm just hanging out all afternoon."
"Thanks."
I went about my task and using the thought of a swim as motivation I was soon finished.
I put away the equipment and walked over toward the neighbor's pool.
I came up to the edge and the kid opened his eyes.
"All done?"
"Yeah. That was a huge pain."
"Well hop in and cool down a bit."
