There is No More Water!!
With a toothbrush in a mouthful of toothpaste foam, I reached out to twist the faucet. I was shocked that there was still no water. I spat the toothpaste into the sink, and ran to the kitchen for a cup of fresh drinking water to gargle my mouth. Then I went to my mom’s room to tell her that there was no water coming out from the faucet. She turned the radio to the news channel to hear more about what was going on. The radio host warned us in a very serious voice, “Don’t drink the water! It is poisoned!”
My parents and I immediately told my little brother Charlie not to drink from the faucet. We all started to panic and felt scared. My dad calmly settled us down and came up with a plan. My mom and Charlie are going to the nearby convenience store to buy water. My dad and I are going to the market to buy more water and food that doesn’t require a lot of water.
The market was packed with people. We immediately went to the drinks section, to grab water. There were only a few bottles left. We grabbed the remaining 7 bottles of water, and other drinks too. There were some large bottles of preserved drinks such as canned milk, yogurt, orange juice, lemon tea, and coke. We set out to stock up more food. I wanted to pick up some vegetables, but we needed water to wash and boil chinese vegetables. So we got cans, such as fruits that had a lot of liquid in them, spam, fish, soup, and beans instead. We grabbed eggs, ham, biscuits and bread into our baskets as well. On our way to the cashier’s, we took all the bottles of disinfectant spray, hand sanitizers, and mouthwash because we cannot afford to wash our hands, brush teeth, or shower. At the checkout, we had to be very careful, because a lot of people try to take things from our cart. By the time we got home it was almost late afternoon, because there were so many people in the supermarket.
The next few days were very dreadful. When we go to the toilet, we can’t flush our toilet because there is no water. Our home became very stinky. We can’t shower without water, and we are very worried that there will be no more water left in a few days. So, we began to drink very little and only drink a small sip if we are very thirsty. We did not want to move, and we waited for the skies to rain. The skies were cloudy and the weather forecast there should be rain. So my family and I prepared all the containers that can hold water in our living so we can fill them up with water.
However, we realized there were not a lot of places where our pots can reach rainwater other than holding them outside the window. So, my dad and my mom carried the large laundry basins downstairs to an open area to wait for water. They had to stay and watch to make sure nobody takes our buckets. When sitting on the sofa waiting for the rain to arrive, I had a brilliant idea. I hung the thickest blankets we have on our clothing drying rack so the blankets can soak up rainwater. We waited slowly and we got very excited as the sun set, because we saw a droplet of water hit our window glass! Charlie and I screamed for joy as we took out a pan to fill it with water. As soon as the pan became too heavy, we immediately brought it back inside to fill our bathtub with water. Once the tub was full, we began to fill the containers we had prepared. Suddenly, the doorbell rang, it was a strange middle aged man who claimed he was my dad’s friend and came to borrow a bucket. We were afraid to let him in, because our parents were not home and we secretly took a picture of him to show my parents later on. When my parents came home with the large basins later, we gathered our dirty underwear and rinsed them outside the window.
When the rain finally stopped at midnight, my family and I laid on the floor of our living room, too tired to move from all the exercise we had. We had taken the first shower many days since our taps went out.
The next day, we were so sick of eating biscuit and bread, so we each picked our favourite flavour of can soup. I chose a delicious tomato soup and we were so excited to have another can the next day. However, my mom began to worry that we were eating the cans too fast! So she decided that we should only eat one can of soup everyday.
Living next door to us, is a toothless grandma that is over 90 year old. She can only eat soft foods, and that requires water to boil food to make it soft. She came knocking on our door to ask about what is going on. A middle aged man came to her home yesterday and she gave him the water when he lied to her and told her the tap will come back the next day. I remembered that man, and I immediately showed her the picture I took. I felt fortunate that I did not let the man into my home. Or else, he might want to steal our food and drinks. My mom wanted to help the old grandma by giving her some of our resources. My mom gave her some canned soup, one small bucket of water, and some soft bread.
After giving away some of our food, my mom and I began to count how much resources we have left. We realized that we do not have enough food for everyone to last more than 2 weeks. My parents went into their room to discuss what they can do next. I heard them whisper very quietly in a hushed tone, trying no to worry us. Charlie and I pressed our ears against their door, trying very hard to hear what they were saying. We could hear my mom crying and my dad cannot help but sign because he was scared too. I heard my dad comforting my mom, and before we could run away from the door, my dad opened the door. We were afraid of being yelled at, but instead, my mom just gave me a big hug of comfort instead.
In order to survive longer with our supplies, we all went to the wet market to buy more eggs and fruits with skins such as orange. When we got home, we filtered the rainwater and boiled it several times before drinking.
Over the next week, it rained a few more times, and we collected more water. The radio host said that they found the cure of the poisoned water. Fresh water will be back in three days. My family and I celebrated in joy by washing our faces with the precious water for the first time in two weeks. We waited until there was fresh water in our taps, and quickly filled up each bucket just in case the water was poisoned again. We lived cautiously for the rest of the month buying and stocking up water supply from the store. It was not until winter came, that my family finally accepted that the curse was gone, and we resumed life as normal.
At least, we no longer had buckets lying around our home. However, this experience taught us to not waste water anymore. We are careful about how much we use and waste. While we suffered during those weeks of terror, it taught us to treasure our precious water resources and be mindful of our water consumption. This was a blessing in disguise afterall.
