The Water Truck

Chapter 3

The big water truck trundled through the town.

The town was a dry and barren landscape, the townsfolk were sunburned and beaten. They had little in the way of food or water.

The water truck owner, an old man smiled kindly to the townspeople as he trundled towards the center of the town.

The people didn’t look happy, they were weary and tired.

The water trucked pulled to a stop near the center of the town, and the old man hopped out of the cab and began setting up a table.

This attracted a small crowd of onlookers; they were still shy to his presence.

He opened a panel near the cab of the truck and pulled out a large bad full of cups. They were tiny little sipping cups that could hold only an ounce or two liquid, and he began filling them one by one from the tap installed on the side of the large 25,000-gallon tank and setting them on the table.

As the crowd drew near, he spoke in a soft voice, “come children! have a cup of fresh cool water”

This gave the townsfolk strength an the came forward to accept his offering.

“don’t worry little ones, I bring this water for free, everyone gets a cup!”

This attracted more of the townsfolk, and slowly the crowd grew, and a queue had formed to receive the gift from the old man.

One by one the townspeople received their cup of water, and they drank. Then faded back into the crowd. An hour had passed as all the people received their share. And as a few approached with hopes of another cup, the old man began packing up the table. “that’s all for today children, ill return with more tomorrow”

This sent a wave of disappointment through the crowd, and they slowly dispersed back to their homes.

The sun was getting low, and the old man needed to return home himself.

He trundled back from whence he came and disappeared into the dusk.

He returned everyday for weeks, and months. And everyday the townsfolk would come out and receive their small cup of water. Just enough to survive one more day.

Then one morning, a young couple came up the road from the other direction, and came into town early in the morning, they were pulling a small water truck, barely a hundred gallons.

They didn’t go to the center of the town; they went to a small field on the outskirts of town and started working. The used shovels to break up the earth, and they removed any rocks that were in the field.

This drew a few onlookers but none of them did anything other than sit and watch.

A young boy no older than 10 came up to them, “what are you doing?”

The young couple stopped and smiled at the boy, “were building a garden!”

“gardens don’t last out here” the boy quipped back, almost proud that he could give such important information.

“well, that’s true, but if you work hard and you have a little hope, and a little faith, anything that you do to help others will happen!”

The young couple looked into each other’s eyes and smiled then turning back to the boy they said, “if you help us, we will give you some of our water?”

“there’s an old guy that comes everyday and he brings us water, and we don’t have to do anything”

The couple smiled softly, “that’s ok, we will be here anyway.” They both returned to their work, and the boy sauntered off back into the shade.

The hours ticked by, and like clockwork, the old man with this large water truck trundled to the center of town and set up his table.

The townsfolk approached and in an orderly fashion began the slow process to receive their cup of water.

The young couple took a break during the peak hours of the sun and observed the old man.

“just imagine what we could do with that kind of water!” the woman said

“yes, the field could be much larger, and feed many more people!”

“maybe we could ask him for help?” the woman said excitedly “if he’s willing, we could create something truly wonderful, and the entire to could thrive!”

“true darling, but we have to ask him first,” the young man slowly man slowly made his way to the large water truck and waited in line like the others. When his turn came, the truck owner didn’t even acknowledge him there than a smile and a cup.

“excuse me sir? If I could have a moment?”

The old man brushed him off “only one cup my child, I don’t have enough to go around.”

“but your tank is still full” the young man replied in shock “you can see the level at the very top!”

This sent a murmur through the crowd.

The old man paused, still smiling, yet he wasn’t happy. “and what would you have me do young one?”

“I would use the water and create a garden, one large enough to not only feed this town, but other towns as well, it would take time, but with hard work, faith, and hope…”

“enough!” the old man cut the young man off “you think you know all the worlds secrets? Tell me, what credentials do you have to start a farm? Do you have a degree in farming?”

“no sir, but….”

And tell me, do you have any experience with large quantities of water?”

“well no but….”

“then if you don’t have any training or experience then how we can trust you to do well with this gift?”

“because…”

“NO!” the old man roared, “you cannot!” and with that he rapidly stowed the table and cups, and jumped into his truck, and trundled off.

The young woman came over and went to her husband, “I’m sorry honey! It will be ok though; we will make it work with what we have”

The young man smiled, “yes we will”

They returned to their work, until the sun began to drop then they left back down the road from whence they came.

The days went by and the couple didn’t return, the old man huffed and said “you see! Their lack of experience has driven them away.” The people jeered along with him. “well, that should teach them.” He turned to the crowd a motioned for them to be quiet. “I have an announcement, I am needed in another town that is far from here, they are in dire need of water as well, and since I have been coming to you for a while now, I think it is time that I move on to another town for a little bit” the crowd murmured in mixed affirmation and dread “do not fear me young ones, I will return once I have helped this other town.” This sent ripples of sadness through the onlookers, but the agreed and began to slowly return to their homes.

A few days later, the townspeople woke to the sound of earth being upturned by a shovel, and a few went to investigate to see that the young couple had returned to their field and were hard at work preparing the ground.

The news of their return traveled quickly through the town, and they all jeered at the couple saying, “oh you only return now that the old man is gone huh?”

Go back from where you came,”

“your being stupid for trying to take care of someone else when you can’t even take care of yourselves.”

However, through this, the young couple continued to work. All through the day, and deep into the night.

The next day, the couple gathered their things and headed back down the road, leaving the townspeople to wonder.

Days went by again, and the couple returned early n the morning, and returned to their work.

As the sun crept up, and the townspeople awoke, they began to acclimatize to the couple’s presence, and ultimately left them alone.

This carried on for several weeks, the couple leaving then returning a few days later.

Upon one of their returns, the young boy came up to them and asked, “why do you leave for so long?”

The young man smiled and said “we have to go, to get more water”

“where does it come from?”

“far away, it takes us several days to walk there puling this tank.”

“then why don’t you just get a truck like the old man?”

The young couple smiled at each other and the young man said “we don’t have the resources to afford it, you have to own lots of water in order to be able to get the big water truck, and we cant save up enough water to get something like that, so, we make do with what we have, its hard work, but we are able to help you out.”

The boy nodded, he swallowed hard then said, “could I maybe have a cup of water?”

The young couple chuckled, you can have more than a cup!” they pulled out a large bottle made of glass that could hold a gallon of water, and they handed it to the boy.

The boy’s eyes lit up! “thank you! You would have given us this all along?”

“yes!” the young woman replied “you just had to ask. We give freely from what we have if you ask, and we only ask in return that you help us out. It doesn’t have to be today, but maybe, when the time is right, you help us, so that we can help everyone.”

The young boy smiled big and took a long sip from his bottle.

The refreshing taste and coolness of the water replenished his energy and he did a little dance around them laughing.

They all laughed and had a good time together.

The boy stayed on and helped them out the rest of the day, and before the couple left, they filled another bottle for him and said, “thank you for all your help today!”

The young boy was shocked, “two full bottles in one day?” he just stood there stammering.

The couple laughed and began their long trek back.

The boy slowly walked back into the town and marveled at the two bottles he held in his hands.

Some of the other people came up to him, and he freely shared drinks with them. It wasn’t a lot, but the people were thirsty.

When the young couple came back a few days later, there were five adults who were ready to work with them, and as with the young boy, were given a bottle in the morning and a second bottle at night.

When the couple returned, they saw before them a filed fully prepared, and ready for planting, and 30 smiling people ready for a day of work. The couple smiled broadly and gave to everyone there a fresh bottle of water, and that day, hat ground was watered, and the seeds were planted.

The young couple looked to the townspeople and smiled. “we need to be off again to get more water, do you have any containers here that you could use so we can give you more water?” the people scurried about grabbing anything that could hold any amount of water. Bags, pots, cups leftover form the old man. Anything that could be used. And they took everything from the small water tank that could be drained.

“now with this,” the young man said, “you need to water the field for the next few days, while we go back to get more water. It might take us a little longer this time because we have an empty tank, but we will be back.”

The people smiled and applauded and began organizing the water so they could water the field for the next few days.

The young boy walked up to the couple and asked “what about you? Do you have enough water to get through the next few days?”

The young couple looked at each other determined, “I don’t know” the young man said” “but what I do know is, with a little faith and hope, we will make it work”

The crew of workers waved them down the road and watched as the crested the furthest hill and disappeared.

The days went by and the crew diligently worked to keep the field watered. But the couple still hadn’t returned.

The water supply was running low, and the crew began worrying that something may have happened. But they held fast to their hope and faith, that they would make it work.

On that day, the crew saw a dust cloud coming down the road from the direction that the old man used to come, and low and behold, the large water truck had returned!

The whole town gathered and received the old man with jubilee.

He set up once again at the center of the town, and the people made a queue just as before except, the crew that had helped the young couple set themselves in line last. When their turn came, they didn’t accept the small cups rather that offered the empty bottles.

“what’s this my children?”

“these are for our garden; we have seeds growing and they need water”

The old mans smile faded instantly “a garden wont last in this climate! You’ve been listening to the young couple! How dare you! After all, I’ve done for you, you go behind my back and listen to those fools!” he turned to the rest of the people, “do you all agree with the likes of these?”

The crowd mumbled to themselves, in mixed reply

“well, if you agree with these idiots, then you shall receive no water from me, I will no longer set up here in the center of town, I will set up on the outskirts of town, up the road closer to my home. I come all the way here every day and share my water with you. I have to get up early in the morning so I can begin filling my tank, and the trek here well, let’s just say it is a very long trip from where I live.”

He huffed and packed the rest into the cab and trundled back up the road.

The young boy frowned and looked to the crew; they were going back to the work of watering the garden. The boy looked back to the water truck.

He then followed the water truck up the road.

As the water truck crested the hill, the road dropped down into a large valley. In the middle a patch of green, only a few miles from the town!

The old truck stopped in the middle of this green patch next to a small house. He got out and inspected the truck, and once he was satisfied, he pulled a hose form the side of his house and topped off the tank. It only took a minute.

In the low light the young boy could see that the large water truck was full to the brim.

Satisfied with the information he had gathered he made his way back to town.

Exhausted, he asked for some water form the crew, they gave him from what little they had left. He recounted what he saw, and this infuriated them.

“the young couple gives everything they have to help us, and keep us going, and the old man only gives a tiny amount and yells at us when we ask for a little more! That’s not right”

“but what can we do?” the young boy asked

“nothing we can do, even though he’s right there it would be right for us to take it, and besides we wouldn’t know what to do with it.”

“So, we wait for the couples return”

The crew used what water was left, as sparingly as possible. And on the last day, they used all that was left.

You could see a few green sprouts poking their heads above the earth, but the crew was sad, they had no more water.

That day they all sat in the shade, quiet. Knowing that with out water, the garden would die.

They day went on, and the shadows grew long, and the other townspeople were returning from their trek up the road to the old man.

They came over to the crew and the crew thought that they would mock them, but instead, the people began pouring out the little cups into the empty containers once used to water the field.

One by one, the people poured the small amounts into the jugs. And slowly they were filled.

The next morning there was enough for the field to be watered with some left over to share with the town. It was very little, but it was just enough.

And once again, they town went to the old man, and received the water cups, and brought them back to water the field.

It was hard work, but they had hope, and faith.

The days turned into weeks and the field grew.

The green bushes now offering a home to many little insects. And even a few little creatures.

Some of the older people in the town, captured a few of these rodents and used them to breed more, and raised them for food.

Then one day months later the young couple returned. And began crying seeing the thriving field they had started.

They were welcomed into the town with open arms, and they were re-introduced to everyone, and shown the fruits of their labor.

The couple then, showed the people how to gather the front from the bushes, and how to prepare them for the next season. And the people were happy. And the water the couple brought was immediately stowed away, to prepare for the next few months.

The young man showed them how to dig a well, so that they could begin getting their own water, so that next season, they wouldn’t need to rely on the couple.

The town laughed and said, “we wouldn’t even need to rely on the old man either”

The people all celebrated, and for the first time, no one went to the old man’s water truck.

The old man trundled into the center of town in a huff. “why weren’t you all up there to meet me today!”

The people sobered quickly at his sight and didn’t answer. The old man gazed around the town center, and his eyes fell on the young couple.

“you!” he shouted, he quickly dismounted the truck and stormed over to them, and as the crowd parted, the young couple stood their ground. The old man stopped right in front of them, his heavy breathing and furious gaze never left them.

The young woman then smiled and stepped away, behind them, the field could be seen, green and lush with life.

The old man stumbled in shock. “that’s not possible”

“anything’s possible with hard work, a little hope, and faith”

the old man shook in amazement “I’ve never…” he looked down at the young man “I’m sorry, may we start again?”

the young man smiled wider, “of course!”

“my name is Everette!” the old man smiled,

“I’m, Trevor, and this is my wife…” he said, gesturing to her

“charity” she said smiling back.