Somehow our reservations got messed up, and I have to share a room with my parents. At least there are two beds, and the clerk, who I don’t like because of the way he checked out my breasts, said it would only be for one night. These things happen, he said in a half-smirking voice. It is supposed to be my parents’ second honeymoon, and I am supposed to have a room of my own—I’ll be in college next year after all! But I’m mature enough not to pout about it.

When we get to the room, Dad says, “Honey, why don’t you check out the pool for an hour or so before dinner.” I know enough to know that he and Mom want to have sex, so I grab a towel and my suit and set off.

I get lost. I wander down one corridor after another and the next thing you know I’m back at our room. I don’t dare enter. I don’t dare even listen too hard. I try to find the pool again. I end up in the laundry room. This is crazy. I’m getting a little upset. I try a different route, and I end up at the reception desk. It is embarrassing, but I’m brave enough to ask the desk clerk how to get to the pool. “Sorry,” he says, smirking again, eyeing what little I have in the boob department again, “pool’s closed. Renovations.”

Now what am I going to do? I have some books in my backpack. I have my cellphone in my backpack. But my backpack is in the room. I say a naughty word to myself. Maybe I say it out loud, because the clerk raises his eyebrows. “Uh, the workout room is open,” he says.

“How do I get to that?”

He tells me. It is a little complicated, and I’m a little shy about asking him to repeat it or draw me a map. I set off for the workout room.

I don’t find it, but I do find the pool. It’s in a kind of courtyard, and though there is no one there, it doesn’t look like it is closed for renovations. The pool is filled to the brim with clear, beautiful water. Golden light from the sun shines down, making the surface glint and shimmer. It looks so inviting.

First I need to change into my suit. I hadn’t noticed a changing room, though. The door I’d come through came straight out to the pool. I glance around. The entire pool area is surrounded by the bare gray walls of the motel except for one wide window. I figure if I stand to the side, I’ll be out of sight of the window, and I can change without risk of anyone seeing. Quickly I strip off my shorts and top, and I am about to step into my suit when there is a big splash, and this guy and this girl sort of rise up from beneath the water right near my end. I am so surprised I drop my suit.

The guy and the girl don’t look at me though. Clearly they only have eyes for each other. It is as if I’m not here. The guy hoists the girl out of the water and sets her on the deck. She is naked. She is beautiful. Water streams off her skin. The guy stands between her legs, and for a moment when she lifts her legs I can see that he is fully naked too. Then her legs are above his shoulders and I know he is in her. I can’t help but watch. They are so beautiful. They are hardly moving at all, but I know they are making love. The water ripples outward and the guy makes small motions with his hips and the girl matches those motions. Their eyes never leave each other. They are golden in the gleaming sunlight. There’s something magic about them. Also something magnetic. I find myself almost at the edge of the pool, only a few feet away from them. Still they don’t notice me. I have to glance down at my arm to make sure I’m not invisible.

Now I’m close enough to hear the sounds of the water sloshing against the pool. But maybe mixed in with that is the sound of him moving inside her. It is a soft, suctiony sound, timed to the small motions. It makes my knees weak. I can barely stay on my feet. I can hear them breathing. Their breaths are coming quicker. I have to touch myself. I can’t help it. My fingers find the place. I am wet. Wetter than I’ve ever been.

They are breathing harder now. The ripples in the water ripple harder, faster. My hand moves faster, harder. The guy groans. The girl gasps. I join them. We rise up on waves of golden sunlight. Then there is a long silence, no sound but the quiet flutter of her little wings.

We regain our breath. The guy arches back into the water, and the girl goes after, but just before she slips into the pool, she looks at me, and she smiles. Then they are gone.

I get dressed and find my way back to the room.

My mom is in the shower. My dad’s hair is wet, but he is dressed. “Have a nice swim, honey?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I nod. “Pretty good.”