Rinse.
Spin.
Dry.
Repeat.
This is the story of one drop of water that rolls off my veranda railing.
Tommy was born from a cloud burst one summer day. One little rain drop never bothered anyone. He just hung on for all that he was, one little rain drop holding on for dear life. And then...
plop...
He couldn't hold on anymore. Tommy rolled off the veranda railing onto the roof. Sploosh went Tommy as he joined other drops in a flowing stream.
No one asked where they were going.
They all screamed as the gutter poured out with falling rain. Tommy couldn't say a word. The trip was so natural to him. Each molecule of water was floating on another. More power pulled him through a long giant tunnel. It was some time he was in that dark place until splash he was in the open air again.
Tommy could hear the rush of millions, no billions, of water droplets moving in unison. All were headed in one direction, all advancing for days and days.
Tommy noticed a different kind of smell. A different kind of water droplet swam next to him. This droplet was tainted. Even Tommy could taste the acid. The flavor was hard for him to describe. It was like a spot of purple in a patch of green.
Tommy was feeling noxious. Just then he met another flavor completely unknown. It was a flavor that jumped on him and choked him and just like that he was better. Everything was much better. His friends smiled and played. There was no rush to go anywhere now that they were out to sea.
They were surrounded by large swimming creatures splashing and green plants swaying. Tommy got used to this place and enjoyed the swirls and the waves of the open sea. The salt that seasoned the water droplets did him good and he felt his strength coming back. The tainted water could no longer be tasted. Everything was good. Tommy wanted to stay here forever.
Just then he felt lighter than he ever did. It was the strangest feeling as if he was there but he wasn't there. It was as if he had changed from one phase to another just as a caterpillar changes into a butterfly after a long time of being in a cocoon.
Tommy was floating and then Tommy was flying higher than he could imagine. That afternoon the land temperature was the hottest it had been all year. Reports were showing that it was 37.4 Celsius on the land. Tommy just kept flying higher and higher in the sky.
(The actual camera that took the ground temperature recordings that day. It was hot.)
But where Tommy was going it was not at all hot. It was cool and it was getting cooler. As the evening sun was disappearing in the western sky, Tommy began to feel queasy again. Many of Tommy's friends began to gather together in a cloud in the sky afraid of what would happen next. They felt a strange electric charge and a crashing sound to follow.
Tommy and his friends tried to hold on for dear life but just couldn't hold on anymore. Finally they all came crashing down at once. Before he knew what was happening, Tommy too was crashing to the ground.
Strange... This place looked familiar. It was like he had been here before. It was the same, but it was different.
Was this the same place he had started from?
After the rain had fallen, the clouds passed as if nothing had happened. Again Tommy is holding on to the veranda railing for dear life. The sun already set and Tommy is still there. Does he have any idea what a long strange trip is ahead of him?
Tommy's story is the story of the trip of many of our lives. We see the cycle repeated again and again and in the end we find we are in the same place we started from. There is no point fighting this cycle.
Rinse.
Spin.
Dry.
Repeat.
Just enjoy every moment of the ride :D
The Grateful Dead put it well in "Trukin".
What a long strange trip it's been.
Think about your life for a moment.
It doesn't matter if it has been long or shot.
Hasn't it been a strange trip?
Isn't it amazing you are alive today and on the road again?
I feel I'm living on borrowed time.
The best I can do is love those I am with today.
Truckin', got my chips cashed in
Keep truckin', like the do-dah man
Together, more or less in line
Just keep truckin' on
Arrows of neon and flashing marquees out on Main Street
Chicago, New York, Detroit and it's all on the same street
Your typical city involved in a typical daydream
Hang it up and see what tomorrow brings
Dallas, got a soft machine
Houston, too close to New Orleans
New York got the ways and means
But just won't let you be
Most of the cats that you meet on the street speak of true love
Most of the time, they're sittin' and cryin' at home
One of these days they know they better be goin'
Out of the door and down to the street all alone
Truckin', like the do-dah man
Once told me, "You've got to play your hand"
Sometimes the cards ain't worth a dime
If you don't lay 'em down
Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me
Other times, I can barely see
Lately, it occurs to me
What a long, strange trip it's been
What in the world ever became of sweet Jane?
She lost her sparkle, you know she isn't the same
Livin' on reds, vitamin C, and cocaine
All a friend can say is, "Ain't it a shame?"
Truckin', up to Buffalo
Been thinkin', you got to mellow slow
It takes time, you pick a place to go
And just keep truckin' on
Sittin' and starin' out of the hotel window
Got a tip they're gonna kick the door in again
I'd like to get some sleep before I travel
But if you got a warrant, I guess you're gonna come in
Busted, down on Bourbon Street
Set up, like a bowlin' pin
Knocked down, it gets to wearin' thin
They just won't let you be
You're sick of hangin' around and you'd like to travel
Get tired of travelin', you want to settle down
I guess they can't revoke your soul for tryin'
Get out of the door and light out and look all around
Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me
Other times, I can barely see
Lately, it occurs to me
What a long, strange trip it's been
Truckin', I'm a goin' home
Whoa, whoa, baby, back where I belong
Back home, sit down and patch my bones
And get back truckin' on
A beautiful story analogous to that of human beings. Although I believe that cycles can always be broken, in the end we live one adventure after another until we find a new one. I want to believe that I can change and extract the best from each experience... But I know it's not always like that, I know that sometimes I'm just the old me again.
That's a beautiful and truthful comment @aiuna.
I also believe there is a way out of this cycle. It's humbleness and forgiveness. I can't see any other way.
Each drop of water just flows with an uncontrolable force of nature. Each becomes nothing and then more than a drop in unison pour rain and finally back to the same place again.
Even though we come back to the same place we are not the same as we started.
I also think the cycle is an illusion. There is more more to the water drop than we see or imagine.
Water has a starting point somewhere in the history of earth. In the story "The Martian" the main character produced water with hydrogen and oxygen. It was an explosive reaction but it worked. The water did have some starting point.
The oxygen and hydrogen also had some starting point. In theoretical astrophysics researches measure the distance light travels to determine the age of the universe through studying supernovas and the black holes created. In doing so they find some evidence that there is an end to the universe as well. It's important to consider the possibility that life has a starting point and an end.
A story like this teaches us a basic principal of nature, but there is always more beyond the story like you @aiuna.
Some drops of water make a beautiful transparant shield. When light is refracted and reflected and refracted again through the water then all the colors of the spectrum are revealed. I think that is what happens to people like you.
I finished reading your answer with a big smile on my face. Thank you so much for this! I love the lightness of what you write and how you explain things.
I enjoyed your story. At first, I thought you might share it with your students to teach them about the water cycle in an entertaining way... I do think they would enjoy it much more than reading it in the usual science book description. Anyway, I also get your point. I'm in the midst of changing my cycle of life. :) Trying to have the possibility of love, communication, connection, generosity and creation increase in my life. Hope you are having a good summer!
It's too hot @violetmed,
Thanks for reading the story. Maybe it has some potential to be polished off. I would have to add some details and character. I just left the bones here for me to chew on later. I think it would work as an oral story in a third grade class. with a few power point slides.
These days I've been writing in https://proofofbrain.io often and found a lot more interaction than just posting in Hive. So I've been enjoying that and have tried to write something every day. This story came from watching water drops on my balcony after a long week at school. Our summer vacation is short and begins in a couple days.
My youngest son is still taking classes and last night be came down with a fever. I think it is because of the air-conditioning all day. Now I have to help him with his math.
Well I hope you all enjoy your short summer vacation!
Awesome!
Enjoy your weekend friend :D