DROUGHT
CHAPTER 2: THE WATER RUNS DRY

We can’t believe what we witnessed. We are all shocked and waiting for what will happen after the blast. Now we are all quiet and wondering what happened. Because it happened so fast, we expected only some of what we saw, but I know there is more, and it is just the start. We looked at each other and then looked back at the dried ocean. We slowly walk back to the sanctuary to check what happened, hoping everything is fine inside our heads.

“Oh no,” The old woman said, and I guess she is around eighty-five. She covered her mouth because she couldn’t believe what she saw like us. I saw her sign of the cross while looking shocked at the dried seawater.

Is this the punishment that the crazy man is telling? I can’t believe it. How did the seawater get dry? The plane that crashed turned into pieces; I am sure no one survived that kind of crash. The staff checked the crashed airplane, hoping to replace a survivor, but one of them made a sign and let the other know that no one survived. It is impossible if someone survives because the plane crashes into pieces, which creates a fire.

“What is going on?” I asked myself while my knees were shaking.

I can see the corals, fishes, and other sea creatures freely. We don’t need to dive to see them because they are flopping, and we can barely see them now. They are flopping like they are about to die because their habitat is gone. I saw a group of fishermen run to the dried seawater with their baskets, and they gathered fish, shells, and even seaweeds that they could sell to eat. They look so excited. What happened may be a blessing in disguise for them, but for me. I felt something strange and dead. I looked up, and I saw the circle thing still there. It can cover the whole earth. What happened is not just here but for the entire world. After an hour of wondering, the marine biologists and some government officials, scientists, and police arrived to check what had happened.

“Nano ini?” The marine biologist asked with amazement. She is wondering what this is because she can’t believe what she saw.

“This can not be,” One of them said. Yes, this can not be. We all can not believe it, not just the older woman. I saw the older man open a soft drink can and drink it. The soft drink didn’t go up, but the marine biologist opened her water bottle. The water inside her bottle slowly went up like a dust devil. She watched it until there was no water left for her to drink. I saw her jaw drop. I know she can’t believe what she saw in the sky because that big cone is unexplainable. It might be an alien invasion, but what would the alien do with the water? It is not terrorism. No country can do that, no matter how rich they are. God’s wrath is the only reason I can see why this is happening. Is this the second coming of the son of God? First, the pandemic killed many. The war between the two countries is happening now in Europe, and the drought is also mentioned in the revelation. As of Jeremiah 14:1-12. The drought will come, and all the living things on earth, including humans, will suffer and be punished by the thirst for water. To remind us that our knowledge is limited and the one above is not.

“Guys!” The young man catches our attention. He is holding his phone, and he wants to show us something.

“WATCH THIS,” He said, facing his phone screen at us. The screen is small for us, but the speaker he holds is enough to hear what is told in the headlines. The news is about the cone that sucks water in different parts of the world. Manila bay is already dry. The Cagayan River, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and all the waters in the world except for those sealed once it’s open. The water would go up to.

The older woman makes a sign of the cross again. “Oh please, Lord, have mercy on us, kaawan mo kami,” She said.

“What is going on?” The girl asked, and I felt fear in all of us.

“Stay calm,” The police said and looked at us.

“Our experts are already here. They will examine and observe what happened. Soon. We will get the answer,” He added, and he looked at the woman marine biologist, but the biologist didn’t say a word.

“But now, I want everyone to pack their things and leave. The sanctuary is now closed until further notice,” He continued.

We all moved and went inside our cottage. I pack our things and prepare to leave. Our body feels sticky because we got dried with salt water on our skin; Nobody expects our vacation to be misery. People are still determining if the draining of water will happen. Why is it just water that is draining? I wonder. The coconut juice from a while ago is not. I tried to open the can of coke, and I didn’t see it going up. Nobody wants to crack a conversation. We may all be absorbing what is going on. What would happen to us in the future without water? We have kids and the elderly. I shook my head and tried to open the faucet inside the bathroom, and it still had water, but it was not dripping because the water was going up to the roof. Unbelievable! We are all quiet until Ellie screams in pain. Her knees were wounded because of the stampede a while ago. I looked at her knee from the bathroom door, which was sore and bleeding. I need to wash her wounds, or else they will get infected. I tried to call her to go to the toilet because it is good that there is still water in the faucet, even if it is going up. Ellie went to the bathroom with Josh, who was helping her walk.

“Put your knee here,” I said. We must catch the water bouncing back from the roof. I open the faucet again, and the water goes up. I tried to catch the water to wash Ellie’s knee, but once it touched her left knee. The water dried so fast, like it was not allowing me to wash her knees. We do our best to wet her left knee to wash her wound and then after her left knee. Next will be her right knee. It took us half an hour to clean it properly because the water couldn’t stop from going up when we were done. I wash Hope too because she is wounded and full of sand, and after I wash Hope. I let them leave the toilet and washed my face and my body. I tried to take a bath even though it was hard. I let the water drip even if it is not dripping. I watched it go to the roof and bounce back on the toilet floor. Imagine how weird it is. I sat at the toilet bowl and thought about when the big problem would end, even if it was just starting.

“This is the end of everything”, The voice in my head started whispering again.

“There is more to come; prepare yourself,” She said.

“There is more to come; prepare yourself,” She kept repeating like an echo in my head.

Knock!

Knock!

“Lein, is the water in the faucet still okay?” Dannie. My sister’s wife asked. I closed the faucet and answered. “It is going up to” I open the door.

“I want to wash Owen,” She said. Owen is their one-year-old son.

“I will wash Lucy after Owen,” I told her, and she nodded. “No problem,” She said.

We all took a bath even though it was hard because the water went up instead of down. It is much easier to use baby wipes than to take a bath, but it doesn’t matter. What is important, we are all fresh now—no saltwater on our skin. We packed our things and left the sanctuary. We all want to go home without knowing what will happen next. We didn’t even know how long this phenomenon would take. My brother Jasper is the one driving. Beside him is my dad. Me, Knight, and Lucy were sitting together while Eve and her family with my mom, Ellie, and Josh were sitting at the back with Hope. Our family dog, as we travel back to my uncle’s house. I kept looking every way we passed—hoping to see the crazy man again. I have his turban, and I put it inside my bag. Knight didn’t know about it. He thought I had already thrown the dirty turban, but I didn’t. It doesn’t matter. It is not a big deal. It is just a turban, anyway. Not like him; he cheated.

Nobody wants to talk or crack the silence. We are all tired and shocked about what happened. We didn’t want to start any conversation because the drying of water and the airplane that crashed was still fresh in our minds. In the middle of the silence. My mother’s phone began to ring, and she answered it immediately. It was my auntie on the other line. She put it in speaker mode so we could hear what my auntie wanted us to know that caught everyone’s attention. Only her voice filled the air. They are letting us know that even New Zealand doesn’t have water. Their sea, rivers, lakes, falls, hot springs, dams, and water sources are already dry. Soon, our supply from the water tanks and the water tower will be dry because our water dams, for sure, are already dry. She also mentioned that all of the countries experienced the same. I sighed and looked up. I can see the big cone from inside the car. I don’t know what it is, but it creeps me out. If that is God’s wrath, it is too much. Well, what is enough, by the way? Humans don’t know how to be contented. That is why God is punishing us.

“Hello,” My mother said, but my auntie kept cutting.

“Can you hear me?” My mom asked.

“I can’t hear you,” She said to my auntie. The signal may be low. She put the call down and closed her eyes for a moment.

“What is going on?” She asked, but nobody answered because we didn’t know the answer.

“Oh dear, Lord, have mercy on us”, She whispered.

“Yes, have mercy on us,” The voice said. And then she laughed and said, ”Your mom is not sincere. Oh no, she is just saying it” I looked at my mom, and her eyes were still closed. She is praying about what is happening.

“Don’t worry. You will survive this happening. I know you,” The voice said like she was talking to me and giving me strength. I smile because I know my capacity. I am just worried about my family, especially little Lucy, who is sleeping beside me. I touched her chubby cheek and felt the softness of her skin while telling myself that everything would be alright as long as I was with her. I looked back to see Ellie. Like Lucy, she is sleeping too. I smiled at her and told her how much I loved her inside my head. I remember when she was like Lucy. She is adorable but is already a lady with a boyfriend sleeping beside her.

I took the turban inside my bag and secretly stared at it while recalling what had happened a while ago. He warned us about the drought, but we didn’t listen. We just saw him as crazy, and now the drought is happening, and I am looking for him. I want to know what is going on. I want to know how this distress will end, even if it is just starting. I want it to end. I put the turban back in my bag and zipped it before Knight saw it. I have a feeling that one day I will see him again. I just don’t know when.

“We will all go back to dust because of him. We are nothing compared,” She said, which made me smile. I know, for him. We are all dust.

I held Lucy’s hand and closed my eyes. I will rest my eyes because I want to relax; even the voice inside my head keeps talking to me. I got tired when I panicked when I saw the family running without Ellie. Good that she is just wounded, and nothing worst happened to her.

“Don’t sleep... don’t sleep, or else you will remember everything again,” She said, but I didn’t mind her. I will not sleep anyway. I will only close my eyes and rest because it is a long day.