The Drought

Sunshine gleamed straight through my eyes, as if my eyelids were simply glass. I always hated sunlight. It’s just too… happy. The moon seems better, and don’t call me a werewolf or anything senseless like that. I just prefer the quieter and more somber tone of the moonlight. It gives me peace. It’s something I can always look forward after a long day of work. I closed the blinds to stop letting the sunshine in. Instantly, I felt a strong sensation of relief. The small state of Wisconsin had always been too sunny to me. Then again, any place that has the least bit of sunshine I probably hate too, and think it also is too sunny for me. Heck, even Washington, where I came from, is too sunny for me, and it’s known as the rain state. I walked towards the kitchen to get a glass of water. Grabbing the large glass cup, I went to the sink and flipped on the sink, ready for the flow of the liquid that gives life to shower into my cup. What I was greeted with, however, was just around 4-5 drips of water… and then nothing. I had heard about the drought of Sallisphair, even from how little I go out the house. People talk about it on the internet, or the newspaper, things like that, it never had really affected me, so I never really paid attention to it until now. The moon pulled the tides of water, essentially making water at the mercy of the moon. A servant, if you please. Anything related to the moon is quite dear to me, so I had to go investigate. I searched up for at least what I thought was an hour of browsing through the internet, looking for some source of the drought. It’s odd with the drought, just two days ago it rained plentiful, and rain isn’t too uncommon, so no one knows where the drought is from. I tracked down the central pipe that dispenses water in our city. In our town, there’s this huge water tower underground which everyone connects their houses to, it’s odd. Who would put a water tower underground? I had to do another hour of searching just to find the address of the tower; it seems almost as if it were supposed to be hidden. I exited my house with the address printed onto a white slip of paper. I took off with my puny little bicycle. I’ve had the bike ever since I was a little child. ‘Ignore the sunshine’ I told myself. I felt angst as I was riding in the sun, and my throat was parched. I had to get myself something to drink. I stopped my bike near a rack in a gas station. I went through the front door, looking for a water fountain. Not seeing anything to drink from there, I guess I only had the option to buy a water bottle. I looked into my pocket for some cash. I had about two dollars (Or about 1.50 euros for the people in the U.K). I looked at the price of a water bottle. It was a whopping five dollars (Once again for the U.K, about 3.50). The drought was way worse than I had originally thought it was. Worried, I even checked the bathroom to see if there was any water in them. They stunk awfully, as there was not a single drip of water in the toilets, so they had nothing to reduce the stench or flush the waste down. I hastily exited the bathroom, and head back onto my bike. Another thing I noticed was that there seemed to be slightly less people out today. By normal people’s standards, today would have been a beautiful day, but there were as many people as there would be on a very quiet… I continued biking towards my destination, address in one hand, both grasped onto the handlebars. I wasn’t as good as I used to be, my hands were shaky due to dehydration, and it had been a while since I rode my tiny bike. After about ten minutes of riding, I finally found my destination. By mostly accident. I rode over a manhole and fell off, scraping my elbows badly. A groan of pain and disgust left my mouth, looking at the raw and bloodied skin. Once I regained from the dust and dirt on the ground, I inspected the manhole’s top more closely, wiping the grime off. It read, ‘Sallisphair Water Storage,’ and some dates and names that were so overcame by grunge, that it made it impossible to read. I went through the entrance, leaving it open for the light. I stepped down the ladder, the shaft didn’t have a single source of light, so I had to let the sunshine guide me. It was the first time I didn’t despise its existence. Once I stepped off the ladder, I noted that I was in a tunnel made of cracked and rusted stone and iron. It went down, and there seemed to be various shafts to the left or right, but looking down, I saw a dim light. I slowly walked down the stone steps, making sure that I didn’t trip or fall, I was halfway there, and the sunlight was completely gone. I swear I saw a silhouette of a figure at the end of the tunnel for a split second… It just… dashed past, with disfigured, long fingers… I hesitated on continuing. I contemplated what I could’ve seen. Maybe it was just a man running by, in a hurry to get things working? It was probable, but most likely I was just hallucinating, I hadn’t any water in about 36 hours, I’m injured, and I rode my bike, I’m exhausted mentally and physically. I decided to resume my careful walk towards the light in the tunnel, watchful for that thing to appear again. I did a quick search of things I might be able to use as a weapon. All I had was a bunch of sand in my bag… I finally reached the light and was greeted with a huge square room, dimly lit. I looked around for some kind of light I’d be able to pull to make it brighter, and I found a switch. Flicking it, I heard a loud buzz, and the lights came on. I wish I hadn’t turned the lights on. I should have left. I should have just ignored the drought and assumed it would be over soon. Or maybe, I just should have left the town entirely to ignore the drought, because then I wouldn't have been able to see that horror. I saw piles of bodies, hundreds, maybe even thousands, on the floor, still bleeding… Woman, men, and even children… They were extremely bloody, with giant red gashes… You’d see the veins ripped out and thrown, and the sickest part… some were still alive. They were moaning, and in weak, tired voices, begging for help. I realized what the cause of the drought was. Where the bodies were lying were in the exact same spot where water should have been… The bodies were clogging the water. Rarely any water was getting through, but it’d be going through those dead, mangled bodies… Getting filled with blood, and bacteria… Then I had another question. What sick monster could have done this?

One week ago I moved away from Sallisphair. I can’t stand thinking about that horrid place nowadays. That creature, though… It’s completely killed everyone in my old town. It hunts people down like a savage… People have been disappearing lately all over America, and the radius is spreading… I’m concerned I’ll be next. Though, there’s one more thing that worries me in my new town. There… seems to be a drought going on.