FREE
I awoke from my bed, glaring at the near empty bottle of water sitting on my bedside table. Every night I would leave one in such a state so it would be the first thing I see each morning—to serve as a reminder that the earth I lived in was no longer a paradise. Still, I looked forward to seeing the sun each day, though I had long grown to despise it.
The first thing I did as I got off the bed was turn on the television. This in itself had become like a daily test of faith for me. Each day I would close my eyes before turning on the TV, hoping the news would be different but it was pretty much always the same. “All citizens, please stay calm…” Yet it was hard for a man to find solace while living through the world’s biggest water shortage.
Annoyed that there was no change, I turned off the television and began my day. I made myself a morsel of something to eat, using water that had been perpetually recycled for a month within the confines of a kitchen that resembled a latrine. The stench was strong and coaxed unruly flies into circling everywhere—the perfect concoction for breeding a myriad of diseases. I put on some tattered clothes and stormed out of my house without looking back.
Outside was hot, really hot. The day had just begun and I already felt drained. There was a lake next door to me but the water was not potable; it was murky to the point that I sometimes considered if using it might have destroyed what was left of my withering garden crops. Nonetheless, I hopped into my car and drove twenty miles to the nearest gas station. I parked the vehicle and sauntered into a Seven-Eleven shop that sold a variety of food and beverages.
Instinct caused me to head straight to the refrigerator and my heart skipped a beat. “No way! It went up again?” A 20 oz bottle of cola cost $300 American dollars. A bottle of artificial water was $500 and there were two locks on the refrigerator. I glanced at the storekeeper who showed me a blank stare, almost like he had been itching to use the shotgun I had seen him whip out from beneath his counter the last time I was here. I shook my head and left the store, taking a deep breath before heading back into my car. At that point I rested my head on the steering wheel for a minute, refusing to speak to myself. I eventually took off and drove sixty miles further to a nearby river.
The river actually seemed quite clean and many people would frequent here to stock up on water. I met a woman there, daintily filling an empty bucket. She looked at me and I looked at her and I smiled; we knew each other to an extent and I liked her, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask her to come live with me under my present living conditions.
I strolled to the opposite side of the river and stared straight into it and the eyes of a little girl stared back at me. I shuddered. I hadn’t seen her in a while. It was at that moment I realized what I should have realized long before: the river, still, it was not flowing. “Daddy, can I drink the water?” I answered yes. Then the image of the girl magically disappeared, seemingly being replaced by a school of dead fish. I shook myself to life and slowly headed to my car.
Before stepping back into my vehicle I peered into the distance and observed fresh water gushing out of huge pipelines owned by a private water factory. Three layers of fences engulfed the vicinity, and for just a second I stopped and wondered if the fence might be electric.
I entered my car and drove with no destination in mind, and for the first time that day I thought about what life would be like if I died.
