Water
Water has had enough
Water remembers.
Every drop of rain. Every flood. Every cube of ice. Every flush of the toilet. Every washed hand.
Water is ancient.
Water is patient.
Water knows every secret but has none of its own.
Water has had enough.
Water absorbs.
***
Steelborough was a one factory town. Its residents were loyal and tough… and desperate.
That one factory had closed more than a decade ago. Over the years there had been some interested by companies from Japan or Germany or China to repurpose and reopen the factory, but nothing came of it.
The jobs and the work and the money and even some of the people flowed elsewhere.
Those that remained in Steelborough did their best to make ends meet, taking whatever work they could find, mostly relying on passing freeway traffic to stay afloat.
***
Marcy was the fourth-grade teacher at Steelborough Elementary.
It was a small school.
One Tuesday afternoon, after the children had gone home, she stayed behind to clean up as she always did.
As she dumped the classroom trashcan into the dumpster, one thing struck her as odd.
Where were the juice boxes and soda cans? There wasn’t a single one.
Strange.
She knew her kids… and their parents. They didn’t typically make the healthiest choices, which she understood. Sugar and fat were cheap.
Marcy shrugged it off. Maybe someone had emptied the trash when she hadn’t been looking.
***
Wednesday, during lunch, Marcy was reminded of the garbage can when she looked around and not a single child drank soda or juice.
They had water. Every. Single. One.
The children lined up at the water fountain and either drank from it directly or filled up a cup or bottle they had brought from home.
Marcy sipped water from her own re-fillable water bottle, thinking that perhaps her own behavior was rubbing off on them.
***
Thursday was rough. No matter what she did, her mind just felt sluggish… sloshy almost. Her thoughts would not come as they usually did. The only comfort in the day came when she took sips from her water bottle.
Perhaps she was coming down with something and was feeling de… dehy… whatever the word was.
Thirsty.
The children, again, had only water.
They were mostly quiet.
In the teacher’s lounge, Marcy noticed the coffee maker had been shut off and the entire school staff was drinking water too.
Something was weird.
Strange.
She felt like she should be worried, but she took a sip of water and ignored it.
Whatever it was, it was a problem for another day.
***
On Friday morning Marcy flowed out of bed and straight into the shower.
She had taken one the night before… or she thought she had… but she felt like she needed another.
Maybe it would help her to wake up.
As the water poured over her face, she opened her mouth and drank the cold water.
Cold?
Didn’t she take hot showers?
No matter. It felt good. Natural. Easy.
She left for work, almost forgetting to get dressed, and ignored her car.
Marcy joined a line of people walking in the street. Some wore clothes. Some did not. It didn’t matter. It was like a stream with people joining and leaving like little trib… tri… whatever. Water that joins and splits off.
No one spoke.
They flowed.
Mar… Marc… Marcy crossed the bridge and felt a pull towards the river below. She almost forgot her own name.
She did not stop. Water… no… she wasn’t supposed to stop. Water… no… she kept moving.
She passed a storefront with a television in the window. There was a man on the screen staring blankly at the camera. He took a sip of water from a cup, then stood up and walked off screen.
No one went anywhere, but no one stayed still. The people of Steel.. stee… st… just sort of trickled around the central part of town. Now and again someone would step out to go to the bathroom or to get something to eat or water to drink.
Only water.
At the end of the day everyone returned to their homes.
***
Satu… Sa…S…..
Join the current.
Walk.
Be a part of the flow.
Marc… Ma…. Mmmmm.
Something tugged at what was left of her mind. Something wasn’t ri…
She crossed the bridge.
She never finished that thought.
Or any thought.
Ever again.
***
Water remembers.
Every drop of rain. Every flood. Every cube of ice. Every flush of the toilet. Every washed hand.
Water is ancient.
Water is patient.
Water knows every secret but has none of its own.
Water has had enough.
Water absorbs.
I KNEW it would be horror when no one was drinking coffee 😂
This made me feel so dehy… whatever the word is.
Thirsty. 😁