My Water Friend
by Andrea Valentina García Flores
Today is September 16, 2020, independence day in Mexico, Maria and her parents are preparing for the big event, although it is only 8 am, so there is still time. By the way, Maria is a bit special, quite intelligent if you ask me, despite being 15 years old she still does not define her life path, but she likes to draw a lot, she draws more animals, so yes, she has a feeling of attachment to them. Regarding her life in general, she has lived all her life in the city and she loves school, she is a closet nerd, but don't tell her I told you.
At 11:30 in the morning, Maria is ready for the traditional play in commemoration of the scream for independence that will take place exactly at 12 o’clock, followed by the regional dances of her community, where she is the protagonist. Andrés, Maria’s father played traditional music so the atmosphere feels quite warm and happy -riiiiiing- The home phone rings, his father Andrés receives the call, in the blink of an eye his gaze becomes serious and worried, Her mother Valentina comes over trying to figure out what is happening -They are taking the water from us- finally informs his father, and indeed, when he turned on the tap not a single drop came out, we ran out of the house in a hurry to get into the truck and go to the meeting point that Adrián, my brother, told us.
We finally arrived, -Stay in the truck Maria- says her mother -But ... I want to go- Maria replies -Please, you are safe here Maria- Her mother insists. Maria decides to attend directions, after 3 hours her parents did not arrive, so Maria decides to go down to see what happens, she is about 500 meters away. From the Innagua, the institution in charge of controlling water in México, her parents along with other peasants were protesting hard.
On the way home, her parents didn't say a single word to her - Could you have the confidence to tell me what happened, please? - Maria asks innocently - Sorry Maria, it is not your responsibility to carry the burden of this, don't worry, everything is in order- Maria is silent all the way back, throwing a kind of tantrum that I think was understandable.
Maria doesn't say a word when she arrives and goes straight to her room, her parents sit in the dining room to talk -Agh, it's not fair! I am already 15 years old and they think that I am not mature enough for this type of subject! - Mary yells with her head buried in the pillow - Calm down, make sure they will tell you when they think it is convenient - I tell her, even if she can't hear me. Maria turns on the TV and turns on the news in search of answers, I told you that she is quite intelligent, -Bingo- says Maria, and indeed she found them.
- How? How can I help my parents to avoid this theft? - Maria begins to spin a lot when she suddenly sits on her bed, closes her eyes tightly, and begins to breathe, she takes 10 minutes doing this, when she suddenly squeezes his fists, I notice that he begins to get angry, to sweat and I begin to worry ... from so much force that he exerts a tear comes out, a tear that begins to turn into tears, his eyes are still closed, the tear begins little by little to become a stream of water, now I'm definitely worried, a figure is forming ... is it ... a cow? A cow made of water ... Maria slowly opens her eyes and smiles at her creation. –From today you will be called Omega- Maria says. Now I understand, it is her new imaginary friend, her solution to this situation, but ... How could a cow made of water be of help?
-Maria, we have to go out, you'll have to stay home alone for a few hours, okay? You could distribute the compost to the orchard in the meantime if it's not too much to ask- His father asks kindly, although I notice a certain degree of anguish in his voice- Yes, that's fine, you won't tell me where you are going, right? - Hopeful question Maria, her mother sighs -Well, we will go to the same place as yesterday, we won't say more- Her mother confesses -Thanks- Maria says.
Omega and I accompany Maria to distribute the compost, when Omega approaches, pointing in turn, at a group of buckets with plants on the surface. If my knowledge doesn't fail me, they are lemna minor, better known as “duckweed” plants. not very aesthetic for the lake in her father's words, Maria notices them, then Omega points to the lake that is 300 meters away, Maria is thinking, and then she gets angry, it seems that she remembered the events of last night, because she threw with all her strength the buckets towards the lake, which by the way I would dare to say that it is black, I still remember when it used to be crystalline and there were fish swimming in it, it was beautiful, we used to go swimming with Maria's father when we were 10 years old .
It is 12 midnight and Maria's parents have not returned yet, of course she decided to wait for them and try to gain the trust of her parents once more, I know because she was practicing her speech all afternoon, which by the way is quite well, it seems that Maria went to public speaking classes, although she did not.
Her parents had never taken so long to arrive, obviously this is worrying for Maria, so she makes a decision, perhaps it is not the most prudent, but decides to go out and look for them, take a backpack, put pepper spray, money, water, a rope, a Swiss army knife and he goes to the Innagua by taxi.
He arrives at the facilities, it is a building surrounded by forest, if it weren't at night it would be more beautiful, Maria sees her parents surprised from the corner of her eye, along with more peasants they are talking with an important man, who knows who he is. Maria stops and hides behind a tree, -Ok, I found them, but I still have to find my own answers- She whispers to Omega who by the way I notice it cloudier regarding the color of his water -It is impossible to enter through the entrance, and the driveway has security guards. Where could I go? - You hear a river near here, apparently it is the dangerous entrance that Maria decides to take, although at the same time it is the safest, since there are guards at the door, protecting something supposedly important.
The 3 of us are lying at a safe distance where we can observe without problems, Maria decided to put mud on her face as camouflage to make it more exciting, in the distance we see a man dressed in a suit inside a cabin on the other side of the river, the river by the way, it goes in the direction of the United States of America, and Maria knows it, the man in a suit hands a suitcase to an employee and gets into his car with the advertisement for "Happy meat", you don't have to be very smart to know that There is inside the suitcase, as the man in a suit showed a wad of money to the employee as a sign, Maria took the opportunity to take a photo of them.
I've never seen Maria so focused in my life, she's thinking, but ... let's face it, how could a teenage girl, a water cow and a spirit stop such crime? Maria gets up and pushes a log, making a kind of bridge, ties the rope to her body and the log in case she falls, but she must hurry, because a stream of water is coming from far away and she does not know how much more time she will have available before. her parents decide to leave, she stumbles, but manages to hold on, quickly unties the rope that was tied to her body, someone approaches, Maria lies on the river bank and goes unnoticed, begins to cut the fence to enter the Once inside, the cabin closes the doors of the dam, stopping the flow of water, and she begins to cut cables at random, as quickly as possible, because it sounded a worrying alarm, a security guard enters - What are you doing here? - Question the guard –I am the daughter of the businessman of “Happy Meat” an apology I got lost, I’m going to call my father- says Maria supposedly disoriented and opens her backpack, takes the pepper spray and throws it in the face of the guard to immediately run away where she entered, Maria stops and thinks about which way out is better, she turns and notices 3 more guards heading towards her, she jumps towards the river, now without water, she runs hiding in the forest but trips over a rock causing her to cry out, She quickly took the bottle of water and rinsed the wound, she hardly kept running, the guards caught her when she was passing through the entrance of the institution.
Her parents notice the situation in the distance, and apparently they recognized Maria's voice, as they approached as quickly as possible, they put us in the truck and we had to stay 2 more hours, Maria fell asleep.
The next day Maria was in the hospital with her leg in a cast, her parents are still asleep in the armchairs next to the bed, Omega is sitting next to them, I notice it darker, as if it were contaminated. Hearing the nurse come in, her parents wake up. - How do you feel Maria? - Asks the nurse -Well, I feel fine- Maria says -Unfortunately, you broke a bone, but it was nothing serious, you were lucky- she says kindly to Maria. -Not enough- Maria claims and turns to see her parents saddened, they glare at her. -Well, you can leave today in the afternoon, in the mid time I leave you with your parents for a moment- mentions the nurse when feeling the tense atmosphere -I can explain ...- her father interrupts her -Enough, wait until we get home please, I don't want to hear a single word- -Good- Maria says.
-Speak- says Maria's father -I was worried last night because you weren't coming and I wanted to go look for you, but I ran into this man in a suit who was stealing our water, and I wanted to stop him so that we ...- interrupts his father. –I told you to stay here, and I think I was quite clear- saying her father and Maria bows her head –We had to pay the Innagua people for the damage you did and also for the hospital today- claims her father –The good thing is that you are fine- says the mother between her teeth to Maria’s father -Maria, what is the real reason why you did all that? - Asks his mother - Young people like me need to know the truth, do you understand? Impotence can make a teenager feel very bad, the impotence that I felt made me feel very bad, I want to help you, but I can't even understand you if you keep hiding from me everything that is really valuable that happens on this planet. - Maria says through tears and her mother hugs her - You are a very curious daughter Maria, but your curiosity could have killed you yesterday if we had not seen you, now the government has its sights on us for what happened, please just rest, I promise we will tell you everything from now on, ok? - Her mother says calmly - Okay - says Maria.
These days have been quite boring, we have only watched television because Maria cannot walk, her parents have gone out to the Innagua every day, begging Maria to please stay home. But today her parents forgot to distribute the compost to the garden, I know because 5:00 pm is their exact time to distribute it, so Maria will have to do it. Today Omega looks as cloudy as the lake water, I see him more and more worn out, my guess is that Maria imagined it to be "contaminated" every time the water is really contaminated, and Maria confirms my suspicions, because it has not been bathed in all these days to "take care" of him, but it has been in vain, every day he looks sadder.
Maria is terrible using the crutches, she tripped about 5 times on the way to the garden, however, she managed it. Omega separated from us to go to the lake, Maria and I followed his step, I was amazed at what I saw before my eyes, the water was no longer black, although it was not 100% crystal clear, Maria was as amazed as I was, so much so that he tripped... again. Omega began to walk with difficulty towards the water –W-Wait, where are you going? - Asked Maria still on the floor -You have just given me the opportunity to see my purest form- Omega spoke for the first time staring at the lake, however, he fell from so weak that he is -I don't understand- Maria asks in a sad tone, she takes her creation in her hands –Maria, I am no longer water, do you understand? I am no longer what you created, besides, you have already shown that you have the potential to solve anything, you no longer need me ... Promise me that you will not give up- Omega says. "I promise you, I promise you my water friend... Rest in peace" Maria says between sobs. Omega vanishes with a smile on his face, in Maria's arms until he disappears, Omega has died.
Maria’s parents shout in the distance, it is 8:30 pm and Maria is still in exactly the same place trying to analyze what happened, her parents finally found her –Maria one of these days you are going to kill us with a fright- Her mother exclaims –I already know how to help- Maria says seriously - I already know how to help! - Maria gets up screaming and running into the house, forgetting the cast on her leg, perhaps after all she no longer needed the crutches.
Maria is on vacation, which is partly bad because she has hardly slept and still does not bathe, however, today seems to be quite promising, she finished her training at GYBN to act in favor of the environment and entered the science club from her school, together she created a way to purify the water using all kinds of plants to reuse the water over and over again, a circular economy, but the point here is that this day is important because Maria will talk to her parents, although maybe he should have done it earlier.
- Are you aware that is very risky, Maria? - Asks his father - Of course I am, however I commented that it could be anonymous and to be honest, I have not been able to sleep, that little voice in my head always reminds me - Explains Maria -Okay, let's go- Accepts her father.
We are before the public prosecutor to report a bribery by the Innagua, an anonymous investigation folder will be opened, and the results will be given in a few months, what emotion. Regarding her project, I have to tell you that it has already been applied in her community, and that Maria, has become a voice of inspiration for Mexico, maybe Maria should study criminology because she is so good at deducing things, or an ambassador because of her ability to speak, or perhaps an environmental activist because of her love of nature, but no, she chose science, very nerdy of her, right?
About
For my story I wanted to focus on the water problem and mix several parts that I love about myself, the imagination, the bravery and the exploration. The narrator is my faithful friend, Omega is the voice in my head that helps me make decisions, María is me, a person who questions everything and seeks answers, who enjoys her loneliness, is very sentimental and has a great attachment to animals, my father is very ecological and is the one who supports me more than my mother, however neither of the two have let me down, I really lived the event of the water from different perspectives, in my house they usually remove the water for days, in those moments you realize that you are not prepared for this type of sudden changes, the water of the city where I live is of Another state, also my family usually goes to a community in Cadereyta, where the water used to be crystal clear not long ago, also seeing on the news that this was happening throughout the country led me to investigate purification plants of water and developing this project with the help of my science teacher.