Once he has drunk a whiskey, Neddy swims the length of their pool and continues on his way. The next pool on his route belongs to Shirley Adams, Neddy’s former mistress, although he cannot remember when they had an affair. He remembered being the one who had ended the affair, however, and how this had made Shirley upset.
Shirley is frosty when she sees him, and refuses to give him a drink. She also suspects he is after money, and tells Neddy that she has company. He swims her pool, struggling to climb out because he is now so exhausted. He sees a young man inside Shirley’s bathhouse. Suddenly, as he feels the summer turning to autumn, Neddy feels overwhelmed by sadness and cries for probably the first time in his adult life.
Fatigued, he swims two more pools belonging to the Gilmartins and the Clydes, paddling the latter because he is so tired. He realises he has finished the final swim but his triumph is of a vague kind.
When he arrives home, he finds the house plunged in darkness and rust on the handles of the garage doors. He wonders if the cook or maid had accidentally locked up the house, but then recalls that they have not employed either a cook or a maid for some time.
The story ends with Neddy pounding on the door and looking in at the windows, realising that the house is completely empty.
