Monday, April 11, 2011

What Is it?

"This, what is it?" Rao asked in his broken English.  His newly adopted mother turned and saw him with the hose and sprinkler head in his hands.

Rao had been orphaned two years before in Haiti.  He had spent time on the streets, time  huddled under make-shift roofs, always in filth and squalor unimaginable to masses.  In his young life, he had endured more than most would in a lifetime.

With his smile stretched to fill most of his face, he turned the nozzle over and around until he accidentally pushed the trigger that sent a jolt of water spray directly into his face.  He jumped with shock, and fear took over the previous smile.  "Don't be afraid, Rao" his mother soothed.  "It's just water."  Rao continued to wipe his face, saying "but dirty, dirty."

His mother, sadly, then knew his fear.  Rao was not accustomed to fresh, clean water.  He was only used to puddles with sewage, and on rare occasions, the need for him to carry heavy buckets filled with rarely available clean water, back to his living environment for the day.  Only then could he drink and wash without the fear of disease. How many times had he seen his family dwindle and die from disease related to his poverty.  He had eventually seen his entire family perish and leave him alone and frightened, fending for himself at such a tender young age.

His new mother had been on a mission trip with her Catholic Cathedral.  Their main hope had been to install a water purifier system for the school her church supported.  It had taken three to four trips to just prepare and complete the necessary requirements to finally install the purifier.  It was now in place, and the remaining task was to educate the people how to maintain the system once the missionaries returned to their homes.

It was during this trip that she and Rao met each other for the first time.  They were both connected by their mutual smiles.  Even with the language barrier, they quickly became best friends.  They were shadows of each other.  Learning of his orphan status nearly broke her heart.  As she left to return home, she felt as if she couldn't walk away.  Each step was a step in pain.  Tears accompanied her on the plane all the way home.  Would she ever see him again?

Now she had completed the months of red tape, and her return to Haiti was filled with excitement and expectations.  But, what if something had happened?  What if he was gone?  What if he was lost to her forever?  They both saw each other at about the same time, and those smiles returned.  This time when it was time to leave, they had boarded the plane together ... hand in hand.  Tears on this journey were tears of shear happiness.  As Rao looked out the plane window, as they landed in his new home, she said, "We are family."

"Rao, the water is absolutely 100% clean.  You are safe to drink it, and play in it.  Let it run over you, feel the coolness."  Rao took the hose, put the sprinkler head over the top of his head.  This time when he pushed the trigger, there was no fear.  Only a smile that could have lit the world.  With his eyes closed, his head back, the water ran over his silken ebony body.  He stood motionless for what seemed like an eternity to him.  He was safe in the enveloping arms of the cool, clean, healthy water.


The challenge for The Red Dress writing club was to view the picture of a hose and sprinkler head.  This is the story that came from that picture.

4 comments:

  1. You did such a great job of showing why every moment in time was important in this post, what it meant, why it happened.

    My favorite part was the last paragraph- so visual, the life important.

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  2. Oh, I love this story! I never even considered such a thing as fresh hose water to be a luxury. But you are so right. This story touched my heart.

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  3. what a tender and sobering look at the luxury of clean water, thank you so much for sharing this journey with us. More!!!

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  4. I really enjoyed this story. It's amazing the things we take for granted every day, and even more amazing when we have the chance to look at those things through someone else's eyes.

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