Where is the water by Sarah Maley

Where is the water

Where is the water

 

Ruby woke with a start. Her mother’s gasps and her father’s angry cries filled the small house. Ruby pulled back her sheets letting the warm air escaped, put on her fish slippers and exited her bedroom to investigate what was going on. She walked into the living room to see her parents staring at the TV, pale-faced and clutching each other’s hands. Thoughts started to circle in Ruby’s mind, had a relative died? Why is dad not on his fishing boat? What’s for breakfast today? Although it was irrelative she was very hungry. Ruby looked at the square TV and saw that they were watching breaking news on Channel Three.

“Good morning, I’m Mike McRoberts and today on Three News we have breaking news. Citizens all over the world woke up this morning to dry sea beds, I repeat there is no ocean anymore. Scientists and the NZ army are running around the clock trying to figure out where all this water is!” He took a deep breath and started talking again. “We will have more on the issue later, but now here is Tova O’Brian reporting on Kim Kardashian’s wedding…” The screen went black as Ruby’s dad turned the TV off. Suddenly breakfast was very unimportant. “How are we going to live?” asked Ruby’s mother.

Ruby’s family basically survived on the ocean, her father worked on a large fishing boat to make his money and her mum ran a busy surf shop. “Umm, Ruby, c-can you p-please go outside?” Her mother asked stuttering slightly, Ruby nodded her head, changed out of her PJs, got a water bottle and went for a walk. Living next to a beach had its perks of being a great place to have adventures, searching the rock pools, fishing for snapper off the rocks and maybe figure out where all the water went. Her feet touched the cool sand leaving small foot prints as she walked along the beach, or what was left of the beach. It was like someone had painted an unfinished picture, keeping the kelp, rubbish but missing out the blue clear water or the shinning fish. Ruby went to investigate the sea floor, the sand was as dry as a bone like millions of gallons of salty water were never even there.

Ruby had a sudden thought. She knelt on the dry sand and tipped the contents of her small water bottle on the sand. The pool of water was still, and then it started to move and shake then all together started to head towards the horizon. Ruby was shocked! But without a second thought she followed the puddle of water to wherever it lead her, the water never turned or tilted until it reached finally a small hermit crab shell. Ruby looked around to see nothing but sand and rocks. She sighed as she thought, I must be crazy coming out here to the middle of nowhere.

Ruby looked down at the small cream coloured hermit crab shell in wonder and then sighed again. Then the small shell grew, Ruby’s eyes bulged out of her head. The small shell grew and grew to the size of a small car and the pool of water seeped into the opening of the giant shell. Ruby poked her head just a little into the inside of the shell and saw what looked like a slide that went down, down, down. She heard at the bottom thunderous water, her mind was telling her, “NO! STOP!” but curiosity took over as she stepped inside and slide down the smooth rock slide.

*On the surface the hermit crab shell started to shrink into the small normal sized shell.*

Ruby hurtled down the rock slide twisting and turning, she couldn’t see anything but she could feel the slide evening out and her slowing down. Suddenly she was thrown into a vortex of water. She trashed and shouted for help as the current swiped her away. She tried to stay afloat but the current brought her to the bottom Ruby felt a cold hand reach out and grab her as she fell unconscious.

 Ruby spluttered and coughed as she regained consciousness, warm light bounced around the room that was painted in green and blue swirls. She looked down at her clothes expecting to be saturated in salty water but instead she was dry and clean. Curiously, she got up from the bed and walked towards the door. “Stay right where you are, little girl!” boomed a voice that had a slight Jamaican accent. Ruby turned shakily to see a woman that was definitely not there before. She peered at the strange dark skinned woman standing in a dress that had shells and fish net sown together. She stuttered,”Wh, wh, who are you?”

“I am Mother Nature, ruler of all things natural,” she spoke in an arrogant tone.

Ruby started to feel very annoyed with the strange lady and asked, “Why have you ruined so many lives? You have taken a vital way of living for thousands of people. Why?”

“WHY. WHY! I don’t need to explain myself to a girl like you!” she thundered at Ruby.

“Yes I deserve an explanation.” Ruby replied calmly.

Mother Nature steered at her for a long time then she sighed.” Fine I guess I could tell you why. Have a seat.” Ruby sat in a fish net chair as Mother Nature began her story. “For a long time I have watched mankind ruin my pristine waters and I’m sick of it, so before you ruined it completely I decided to take it away.”

Ruby took it in but wasn’t satisfied with the answer. “You selfish cow!” Do you realise how many lives you have destroyed!” She shouted, “Give us one more chance, please!” Ruby pleaded.

“Fine!” Roared Mother Nature. “One last chance.” Then she mumbled some words in a language that was completely foreign to Ruby, and Ruby’s vision slowly faded into an icy blue.

Ruby woke up slowly on a beach. She heard the swish and crashes of waves. She stood and brushed the grains of sand of her clothes then smiled to herself, she thought to herself “hopefully we must use our last chance wisely.”