A Bucket Of Water

• Nikita Lobo, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2013

I began the long trip to our village’s lone water pump, our house had run out of water and since I was a girl it was my duty to fetch another bucket. It took an hour on most days but today I could feel the sun burning my back and heating up my hair, it was always more tiring on the hotter days. I was barefoot, we could not afford sandals, I walked as fast as I could carrying the pail but it was hard with the rough rocks under my feet. My blisters, from when I walked this same path two days ago, had just begun heal but now they began to break open. I felt one pop as I placed my right foot on the ground. I gasped as I felt it but I could not stop and take care of my foot as it would only take me longer.
Baba had not been bathed in a week and Mama was scared he would get infected, being only a year old his body could not protect him. I hurried, thinking of him and ignored the piercing pain in my foot. I turned it up to see the mixture of blood and pus covering the underside, I would wash it at the pump. I sped up thinking of the cool relief for my affliction. I could see a few other women walking the same way as me, it wasn’t unusual to travel to this pump as the river near our house was now a murky black colour. Some people still drank from it.
I saw the small tap ahead and quickened my pace. After reaching the pump and placing my bucket under the hose, I began to jerk the handle up and down. Once it was full I placed it back on my shoulder and began the walk back. I was halfway to our home when I saw a strange shaped object on the ground, I would waste more time if I went to see what it was but I did anyway. Lying on the ground was a woman, she looked to be about twenty years old, she wore a look of fear and tiredness. Her eyes were closed and her face looked pale and sallow. I put down my bucket and cupping my hands reached into the water and splattered some on her face. Her eyes started fluttering. 'Water' she said in a rasping voice. I helped her sit and passed her my bucket so she could drink. After she drank she began to wash her face, I wanted to tell her to save the water but I hadn't the heart. She smiled at me when she was done and got up and walked towards the tap, holding her bucket. I looked sadly at my own empty bucket and then at the sky getting darker. But I had no choice. Slowly I put my bucket back on my head and began the long walk back to the pump.