Chapter Four - Making Water

Nathan had now been out of contact with the world for four weeks. There had been no electricity for almost two weeks, the water had stopped running not long after that and if his laptop had not died, he would have realised that he could no longer access the internet. Nathan had a fair store of bottled water as he did not like the taste of tap water, so he retained a personal supply for the following time. But he could no longer water the plants as they grew in their dry beds, which upset him and had him apologising to them everyday! It had not rained since before he had fallen sick and there was no water in the rain barrels remaining either.

His supply of milk had run out and bread some time ago, but no one from the main house came to supply him with more and he did not know what best to do.

He had tried to go over to the main house again, to see if anyone would come and talk to him so he could ask for groceries, but he was greeted by a loud thump against the front door, which had him fleeing back to his little cottage without pause.

So he ate cereal dry for breakfast until the last box ran last Sunday morning and tried to cook tinned beans or spaghetti for lunch, finally figuring out how not to burn them when heating up the last half of the third tin. Jacket potatoes became a main staple until he had no potatoes left to cook. Therefore, he harvested some spring vegetables; spring onions, new potatoes, greens and herbs and made a pot of soup which lasted him a good couple of days.

After this, he began to worry. The fridge longer kept things cold, so he could not harvest nor cook too much in advance. There had still been no word incoming from the main house and his parents had not text him back and now his phone was out of charge as well. He was very scared and unsure. Normally when he felt this way, he would retreat to his garden, to calm himself amongst his plants and flowers. But some of those plants were still growing oddly and even when he looked upon the plants that were okay, he felt guilty that he could not water them anymore.

He was thinking about this as he rocked softly on the floor, his knees folded into his chest as he toyed with an empty, lidless bottle of water, rolling it upon its side. If only he could fill this bottle up somehow, he could give them this water. As he was thinking this, the bottle actually began to fill.

Shocked, he leapt away from the bottle, which spilled its precious contents on to his floor. He automatically grabbed a mop and bucket and cleaned up the puddle, before gingerly picking up the bottle. Only a small amount of the magically appearing water was still in it. No more had appeared and it did not increase in amount as he stared at it. He trickled a little of the water into his palm and licked it with the tip of his tongue. It was delicious and fresh, seeming to quench his thirst in an instant. He used the rest on the seedlings in the second bedroom, which he had shared his precious supply of bottled water with until a few days ago. They seemed to perk up immediately.

He stared at the bottle for a little longer, wondering how he could get more. Again, just as his thoughts were directed this way, the bottle began to fill with crystal, clear water. He watched in complete amazement. It did not make sense to him how this was possible, but he was too glad to have a supply of water to question it deeply.

It would be another two days before he realised that it was not the bottle that filled up with water, but that it was he that had filled up the bottle with water.

The garden's thirst was quenched, even the 'sick' plants looked somehow healthier and more vigorous. He spent those first two days using the 'magically' refilling bottle to water his precious plants. He planted the remaining seedlings out then planted some more vegetable seeds in the second bedroom as his food supply was wearing thin and he did not know how to get more otherwise. He had never needed to worry before!

He was wishing, on that second day, that there was an easier way to water the plants other than using the bottle when a ball of water began to form at his fingertips. It burst into a fine spray when he panicked over this new phenomenon. But when the realisation hit him, he was happy. He was personally able to provide water for his garden and other plants. There was nothing that could make him happier in that moment, even though making so much water made him terribly tired. He experimented with this ability over the next few days, until almost all four acres of land were completely watered with at least a light spray, by him.