Story: Tall Tales at the Pool

Joshua was an average teenager stuck in the dull, monotonous summer job of pool cleaning. Day in and day out, he scooped leaves and scrubbed tiles at the local community pool.

One scorching afternoon, a group of naughty children were causing havoc. They were splashing around, screaming, and running when they shouldn’t be. Joshua had seen them at the pool before, and he knew that telling them to calm down was a waste of time. He sighed in boredom.

Then he thought, why not have a little fun? He called the naughty children over and said calmly, “You know, I don’t know why you would swim in this pool anyway.”

“What are you talking about?” they said.

“Well, this is the same pool where we keep a sea monster overnight. You know that, right?”

The children ran away screaming. They refused to swim in the pool anymore. Confused, their parents had to take them home, even though they’d only just arrived. Joshua spent the rest of the afternoon laughing to himself.

But word of the “sea monster” didn’t stay within the confines of the pool. By the next day, it had spread amongst all the children’s parents. Alarmed and indignant, they stormed into the pool manager’s office, demanding answers.

“How could you let a sea monster into the pool?” one father yelled, his face red with anger.

“What rubbish are you talking about?” the manager responded.

“The pool boy, Joshua, gave your game away,” they explained. “And we don’t like it. We won’t have our children swimming in the same pool as a sea monster.”

“Don’t worry,” the manager replied with a stern expression. “I’ll put a stop to this.”

Later on, the manager summoned Joshua to his office. As he made his way there, Joshua’s heart pounded in his chest. He was sure he was about to be fired. He stepped inside and the manager shut the door. The room was silent except for the ticking of the clock.

The manager leaned across the desk, his face stern. “Joshua,” he said slowly, “just tell me. How much do you want?”

Joshua blinked in surprise, his fear fading to confusion. “What?” he asked, taken aback.

“The sea monster,” the manager explained. “How much money do you want to keep it quiet?”