One Jar at a Time

On the morning Bell Street Pool was scheduled to close, Mara arrived to drain it. The inspector would return at noon to find the cracked basin empty. She had lowered the water six inches when someone knocked on the gate. Twelve children waited outside with jars. Behind them, parents crowded the sidewalk with bottles and cooking pots. "We brought back what we used," Luis said. The boy slipped past Mara and poured his jar into the shallow end. The others lifted their containers. At the corner, the inspector's car turned onto Bell Street.