Photo and the Flash - No. 7

First up, the photo . . .

Smoky Mountains NP – ’05

That’s a photo from a trip we took out East, after we had moved to Colorado.  Our destination was Maryland, but as neither of us were working at the time, we took a detour through the Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Shenandoah National Park.  

Yes, I have a number of nice photos from the trip . . . eventually I’ll share them.

And now, the Flash Fiction.   Well, once again, it’s not exactly flash, but a litter shorter than the last one . . . 1,200 words; a full 1,000 words less.  And, this time, it’s actually in response to one of Conrad’s Writing Prompts.  Specifically . . . 

WRITING PROMPT #66 WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE…

The prompt reads thus:

. . .  imagine what you would do for a bottle of water if there was a limit to how much you have. What would you do to get a resupply of water if you found yourself in the middle of somewhere in which water was scarce to the point of it being a tradable commodity? Write a story about someone who is in need of clean drinkable water and there is none available for free. Where would they go to get it? What would they trade for it? How far would they go if they couldn’t afford to buy it?

I had a few hours this evening, and fleshed it out a bit more than I normally do for my writing prompts contributions.  Perhaps you, the reader, might find it to your liking, and a worthwhile read.

Water Wars: The Raid

By E. J. D’Alise (Disperser)
Copyright March 2013

“I got you a pink dress to wear.” George held up what at one time might actually have been a pink dress.  

“Why can’t I go like this?” Karen, the youngest of the group, pointed to her attire.  What had been a flour sack, with holes cut for her head and arms, tied around the waist with a rope.

“Because, we are tapping into evolutionary imperatives; a little girl in a pink dress is less likely to get shot.”  George’s tone, and his deliberate use of big words, left little room for arguing.

“Fine!” Karen grabbed the supposed dress, and went behind a bush to change.  She had been chosen because they had lost Julia.  Julia now had a steady boyfriend who did not approve of their activities.  Julia had been a great little actress; she would be missed.

Karen came out from behind the bush, pulling on the dress.  “I feel silly!” Her tone worried George.  He did not want to send her in if there was a chance she would piss off the guard, and get herself shot.

“Are you going to let us down?  Because we need this to work!” His tone was a bit harsher than he intended, and Karen’s demeanor changed.  Her eyes swelled with tears, and she looked like the little girl she was.  

“I . . . I did not mean . . .” A sob broke through, interrupting her sentence.  She brought up her hands, covering her face, and her small shoulders shook with suppressed sobs.

“Karen, I’m sorry,” George reached out for her, feeling like a total jerk, and patted her shoulder, “I did not mean . . . “

“Sucker!”  Karen’s head snapped up, a huge smile lighting up her face.

George gaped for a moment before also breaking out in a huge grin. “You little stinker!”  He gently pulled her hair before continuing, “You’ll do fine.”

He turned to the others.  “OK, you know how serious this is; we need that water.  That means no one lets themselves be seen.”  He did not voice the obvious; to be seen meant getting shot, and moreover, meant Karen would also be put in danger.

They all nodded, each holding up a plastic gallon jug.  Karen grabbed a beaten-up tin bucket.  She too held it up, and without another word, she headed to the spring.  The others went the opposite way, taking the long way around.

~~o~~

Peter adjusted his rifle.  The approach to the spring had been modified to funnel people into a narrow passage; if need be, he could hold off a small army.  From his cover he would observe people stop and put payment into the designated benches; food, utensils, plastics, and anything that could be used for currency.  Currency; people finally found no use for it, but not in the way the Trekkies had envisioned.

The four families who owned the spring did pretty well, considering.  Considering the world had turned to crap, and most of the people had long ago succumbed to the Water Death.

No one knew how the contamination started or how it continued, but the entire water delivery infrastructure had been compromised.  All over the world.  Rivers and lakes were OK, and rainwater was OK, but millions who did not live near rivers and lakes perished in the first week.  Even those who lived near fresh water fared poorly; they had long ago lost the ability to process the natural pathogens found in free-flowing water.  

Peter looked up from his book, a motion catching the corner of his eye.  A young girl, pre-teen, was making her way along the path.  She carried a small pail; he could not see any payment.

Putting the book down, he put his eye to the telescopic sights, and scanned the hillsides.  No one else was moving.  He focused back to the girl.  Her eyes were wide, and she was watching him, but she continued.  She must have seen the rifle, but it did not deter her from continuing to his position.

His finger hovered over the trigger.  A reflex action; he would not have shot the little girl, even if there had been no rule against doing so.

She finally arrived at his position, and stopped, looking up at him.  Peter tried to maintain a stern visage.  

“I don’t see a payment,” he said with a rough voice, “you can just turn around, and go back to wherever you came from.”

The girl did not speak.  But her eyes welled up with tears and, dropping her pail, she just sat where she was, one leg folded under her, and shaking her head slightly.

“I can’t . . . sob . . . he’ll beat me!”  

“Who will beat you?”  Peter’s voice was a tad softer, but not much.

“My brother!”  she looked up at Peter, her eyes big and rimmed with red from crying.  “He . . . he’s taking care of our mom; she is very sick . . . he said to bring back water, or else.”  Karen put her head down again, sobbing.

Peter looked around.  His replacement was due in about 20 minutes, and she was usually late.  

“OK, OK,” he said, “one pail, and make it quick!”

The girl’s face looked up at him.  With the palm of her hand, she wiped a tear from her cheek.  “Really?  Thank you!”  

Karen rose, and grabbing her pail, she ran through the gate the guard was holding open.

Within a few minutes she returned, carefully carrying the nearly full pail.  She stopped outside the gate, waited for the guard to close it, and when he turned to her, she thanked him once again.  Walking carefully, she headed back up the path.  Peter watched her until she turned the corner, then shook his head and smiled.

~~o~~

Back at their rendezvous point, the children each emptied their haul in a small cistern.  It would be sealed when not in use so as to not lose any water to evaporation.  Karen was the last one to empty her pail.

“Right!” George smiled at them all.  Grabbing the sack from the side of the cistern, he continued. “This should last us at least a few weeks!”

He opened the sack, and handed out small water pistols to each of the kids, who in turn dipped them in the cistern, filling them.  When they were all done, George sealed the cistern, and then, breaking up into four teams, they headed off toward the nearby ruins of a barn; their water war playground.

~~o~~

At the guard shack, Peter fired up the intercom.  

“Yes?”  The female voice at the other end sounded strong and capable, fitting the speaker to a “t”.

“They made another raid.” He said simply, not needing to explain further.

“How much did they get?” The woman’s voice did not change in inflection, but he knew she was smiling.

“I counted 12 kids, each with a gallon.  There may have been one or two more; I had to work hard at not looking.”

“OK, put it on my account.”

“Will do.” Peter replied.  “Oh, one more thing.  They have a new decoy.  This one is really good; probably a good candidate for your theater group.”

“Really? Thanks Peter, I’ll look into it.  Enjoy your evening.”  And with that she hung up.

Peter switched off the intercom, and looked in the direction of the barn, hidden by the hill. He wished he could watch the kids play.  He wished everyone could watch the kids play.   

The End

~o~

The above is slightly different from the version at Conrad’s blog; I changed a few words, and tightened up the writing in a couple of places, editing as I posted it.  Functionally, it’s the same story.  Then again, perhaps I introduced a few errors in the process.  Eh, it’s not like I am getting paid for this.  

Anyway, if you enjoyed reading this story, please tell everyone you know.  After all, why deprive your loved ones, your friends, and your work colleagues, of the joy associated with the discovery of these little gems?  

BUT . . . If you did not enjoy reading it . . . well, sorry you found it all wet, and please: don’t tell anyone. 

The Contest

I was asked about these little designs.  Click on it to read more about them.

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. . .  my FP ward  . . . chieken shit.