He will wash away all your tears

The Water

The cool of the morning air, followed the winding path of rocks and broken branches. It found a way to still chill the bones of the people living at the bottom of the hill where it crept silently into their lives.

The low hanging limbs collected handfuls of water in the last leaves left from the storm the night before. This was not the first time in their history that a steady stream of water like this with enough force behind it, could make the people of the town seek refuge indoors with fear that they too would be next.

they were use to the rain and all, but this time the towns folk never expected to see a body float by of a young girl no one seemed to even miss. There was no reports of missing children, and head counts had already been taken of youth. So they all knew she wasn't one of theirs, but who was she?

It was Bobby J who found her first. See his house sits on the top of the hill, and is the most prominent object you encounter when coming to our small town. All the water seemed to run right past his house like it knew where it was going as it rolled down, well you know what they say, it came down the pipes too.

Bobby J, had just gotten home when the rain started, but as I said this was too much water to have just come from the sky. I mean falling like that, we assumed that a water pipe had burst in his house or something. But it wasn't from there.You should have seen him as he came running , I mean swimming it seemed, best all he could do in this situation. Best any of us could do because the waves pushed us, the cars, the animals, and now this body right dead center of town.

“Mr. Wallace”, Bobby J screamed his name over the rushing water clashing against the houses. I never knew the tide could make that kind of noise. “ Mr. Wallace come quick!” said Bobby J.

“Yeah Bobby, what can I do you for?” He looked down into the muddy water, he could see it rising, but didn't know how high it was gonna be, and for Bobby J, to be out here it's got to be trouble. He never leaves the hill top.

Bobby J thrust through the now raging water following him down the hill all the way to Mr. Wallace's house. “ Mr. Wallace”, he called out again. “There is something you got to see.” Mr. Wallace looked at bobby all drenched in water from the sky, and the street, “Bobby J. Now what you doing coming all the way down here. You screaming my name got me all jumpy and stuff.”

“Mr. Wallace you got to come quick, he shouted out. It'll be too late soon.” Bobby J could barely get his words out. He was tired from fight the strong water current. “You got too... “

“Mr. Wallace!!!”, Maxine Rigby the next door neighbor to Mr. Wallace had heard all the commotion going on outside. She was in the house sleeping when the rain started, and never got up to see what was going on outside.

That was until her cat jumped on her face, trying to get to a higher ground from all the water that was now entering her house.

“Mr. Wallace, I have told you time and time again, about leaving your water hose on when you finish messing with them flowers. Now look at what you done gone and did!” She pointed out to all the water that now seem to fester on the lawn's of all the neighboring houses. “You done flooded the whole block.”

“It wasn't me you old hag.” He shot her a look, that only true love could muster up. The look of maybe seeing her splashing around in the water while the current carried her away, as she screamed all the way out of town.

“ Don't you see the water coming from up the hill flowing down here.? Seriously one day I hope you find them.” Mr. Wallace turned his head back around with a huff.

“Find what”, she shouted back.

He just stood there for a brief minute looking at her. Find what Mr. Wallace? You need to tell me something after all these years you been lying, I know the truth”.

You see she used to peek out her window into his house, and every time he did something she didn't like, she was yelled across the fence I see you!!

So one day she was in her garden working on the tomatoes, it had gotten so hot out there, so when she went to wipe the sweat from her forehead with her sleeves, her glasses fell off in the freshly watered mud.

She picked them up, and put them on the table next to her straw hat, and the fresh watermelon on the plate she left earlier for a game of bridge to be played by the book club that afternoon..

She had gotten up to go in the house to change her clothes, and get something to clean her glasses off with, but when she came back they were gone. She search all around that table looking all day for the forgot the spot where they were last located.

 Maybe someone is playing a game on me she wondered, but no one was around. Well she thought, but as it turned out to be someone was.. She suspected Mr. Wallace all this time, and makes sure he knows it.

“Bobby J, what's all this water doing here? You fishing out here or something? Bringing all this here with you.
I'll get a mop..

 Bobby J held his head down and looked for an excuse in the water to tell her, but like his rushing empty mind both were cloudy, yet full of rage. For he was on a mission to tell anyone who would here him, what he saw.

“No yah, I didn't fish today, but I got to...” Bobby J started out saying, but in true style, and only her way Mrs. Rugby cut him off.

 “Then why you screaming all this noise out here scaring my cats, yaw make me sick the both of yous.” And as quick as she come out the house the quicker she bounced back in cursing the whole time not willing to hear nothing else.

The water leaped off the house as if it were a wet dog, shaking loose the extra wetness  from it's coat of fur in a desperate attempt to dry when she slammed the front door.

 The two men just stood there shaking their heads at the event that had just transpired.

“Man I'm glad she gone”, said Mr. Wallace. “Now you Bobby J, need to run along home and get out all this water before you catch the flue, or something else. And I don't want to hear no more about something more important than me making sure my house don't end up floating down the river. Good Day sir.”

And on that note, Mr. Wallace tipped the top of his rain coat hat, and shuffled back into his house.

He had just closed the door on what might have been this town's last hope of surviving the flood. For as they will soon find out, water sometimes has a mind of it's own, and all it needs is one drop of destiny to either shape, or destroy this community, and little did Bobby J know that he was going to be the unknown forecaster to predict it all.

If only someone took the time to see that the water was coming from his tears...

yes the cry of a person, can effect a whole community in different ways.

So remember it takes a community to raise a child, but only one person to care enough to soothe the tears of a person grieving for the lost of another.

Control it, or it might control you.

THE WATER

For all those that lost someone by violence. 

THE WATER CALLS YOU by KEN GANDY is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at http://youcantrunfromit.blogspot.com/.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at kengandy103@gmail.com.