Photo: Diving in the Pool by ron mzr

For inspiration, I used the Writing Prompts App by Writing.com.

The prompt was “A diver jumps from a high dive into a deep pool and disappears for good.”

The Diver

In my twenty years on the Force, fourteen-year-old Dan Jones’ disappearance is one of the cases that has puzzled me the most. He’d been at his local swimming pool for a while, diving off the high board like he always did. Pretty good at it too, so they say. Won a few trophies at County level.

Dan was a bit of a loner, never the popular kid. Perhaps they were jealous of him, a boy who was only really comfortable flying through the air, pushing himself way beyond their everyday limitations. The lifeguard, and a few other kids remember seeing Dan diving that day. But it was a Saturday afternoon and the pool was noisy and busy.

I sometimes think about Dan taking his dives, entering the water perfectly, with hardly a splash. Maybe hoping someone would notice him, maybe not even caring.

No one saw him leave. His mother phoned the pool three hours later, just as the office was closing up, to tell Dan to get himself home. I joined the Pool Manager and his staff for a thorough search of the whole building, but it proved negative. We retraced the fifteen minute walk home he should have taken, but again, nothing. Urgent messages to his phone went unanswered.

We had a search that night, and half the town turned out to help. The local media arrived in force, and helped us to get the message out. His photo soon became a familiar sight on telegraph poles all over the district. I remember that most of us had hope back then. That he had gone of his own free will, and he’d turn up soon, safe and sound.

But that was five years ago. Since then, not a word, or a promising lead. To mark each anniversary, his mother holds a candle-lit vigil for Dan outside the pool. Just family and friends attend now. It doesn’t make the local news any more.