It was a Sunday afternoon in January- you know the sort. A gunmetal sky, constant light rain, cold enough to want gloves. I decided to go for a swim and a sauna to warm up and kick off the gloomy thoughts that tend to gather at this time of year.
I walked to a small hotel in the centre of the town. It has a leisure facility that always seems deserted. Along the Victorian high street, the red brick buildings looked gloomy in the early dusk. A church clock chimed four.
Inside I changed into my black trunks. I saw myself in the mirror as I passed and was not dissatisfied. Mid thirties, decent shape for a desk worker. Dark hair and beard and chest, shoulders and back kept smooth. I put a towel round my neck and went into the sauna. As I pulled the door to I saw I was not alone.