Paula Bear

We got this woman here, Paula Jean Smythers, who goes into her swimming pool every day, no matter the weather. She has been doing this for years. And with the approval, actually the encouragement, of her doctor. As far as I know she is healthy and seems to be doing better than most of the ladies here who have passed the seventy year mark. She has earned the nickname, Paula Bear, bestowed upon her probably by those who wish they had the stamina and courage to perform such a feat. This morning Dorothy asked me to drop off some pamphlets for something they are working on together, some church thing I guess. Dopsie, the Smythers live-in housekeeper, showed me in and took me back to the den where a fire was blazing in the fireplace. I wasn't there for more than five minutes when the sliding glass door that leads to the pool opened and there stood Paula Jean in her bathing suit. She was blue. And when I say blue I mean blue, not light blue or powder blue, but as blue as the mark of a blue crayon on white paper. She didn't say anything but stood in front of the fire wrapped in a hugh white towel. Slowly her body returned to its pinkness and the shivers stabilized. It was only then that she was able to speak. "How are you, Harvey Lee?" she asked. "Warm and dry," was my reply.

Tales of Harper, short stories and poems about the fictional town of Harper, Mississippi is available on Amazon Kindle

Coming soon: More Tales of Harper (an ebook on Amazon)