The Mystery of the Missing Water

There I stood. Sweating in the heat of the day, frustrated, confused. Simultaneously refreshed, somehow. I took no notice of my surroundings, paid no attention to the adults laughing in the background. I stared distressingly at the empty bucket in my hands. The pool lay before me, as empty as my brother’s reward jar. What had gone wrong?

The day started just like any other. I had eaten some goldfish, downed a juice box and began playing with my favorite toy. My uncle had recently gifted me one of those nifty vacuums with the colorful balls inside. I was doing my duties as a member of the household, cleaning the carpet with my newly acquired plaything, enjoying the loud *pop* it made every time I moved, when my mom decided it would be best for me to play outside. I went and fetched my brother, Troy, to go play with me. He was already six years old; he could do anything. I figured it was good to have him on my side, in case I saw a dinosaur or a dragon or something.

As soon as we stepped outside, my feet started burning. The pavement scorched. I was pretty sure I had third degree burns, but in all honesty, the walk to my shoes was too far to care. I closed my eyes so they could adjust to the shock of the sunlight. When they refocused, the first item in my line of vision was my swimming pool. Already I was roasting, and the pool was enticing. To be honest, it was more of a plastic ring with orange fish on it, but the fish seemed like they were thoroughly enjoying themselves and I got a little jealous. I made a beeline dash to the pool, then disheartenedly realized it was empty. I should have figured. I stared at the ocean blue bottom, seeing how far it stretched, realizing it was going to be harder than I thought to actually fill it up. I let out an exasperated breath and started to pump myself up.

“Okay, Melanie, you got this. You can do this. You are a strong, independent woman who don’t need no mom. You so got this. Go out there, fill up that bucket, and pour it in the pool. Simple as that. You are strong, you are capable, you are independent. Now go out there and kick some pool ass!”

I dashed to my bucket. I usually used it in my sandbox; I would fill it up with sand and dump it out, a fun game I liked to call “Filling my Bucket up with Sand and Dumping it Out,” but I figured it would come in handy for this task too. I was going to fill it up with the faucet inside, but my mom immediately shut me down. She offered to help, which means she offered to fill it up for me, and I looked at her incredulously. Who did she think I was? I could do things. I wasn’t a little girl.

By this time, I had completely forgotten that Troy existed. I was on a mission now. I was pretty confident we had slain all the dragons last time we played outside, so he was of no use to me anymore. I wasn’t completely sure of where he was, but it made no difference to me. All that mattered was the pool.

I went to the hose and started to fill up the pail. In hindsight, I suppose I could have filled the actual pool with the hose, but the idea never crossed my mind. The bucket was full of sloshing water, so close to the top I was paranoid it would spill. I took it by the sides, lifted it up with all my might, when magically, the bucket felt as though it was empty! I wrote the lightness of the bucket off as me having an incredible amount of strength, and thought little of it as I carried my pail to the pool. Shockingly, as I went to dump the contents inside, but a drop left the container! I just stood there for a second, pondering. Staring at the bucket, then at the pool. Was there a hole in the bucket? Was the water invisible? It felt just like air. Suspiciously, I made my way back to the hose to try again. All of my movements this time were perfectly precise. I saw the water from the hose enter my pail. It reached the top and I stopped the hose. I prepared myself for the lift, pulled the bucket up by the sides, carried it over to the pool. Attempted to pour it into the pool. Actually poured nothing into the pool. Again. Okay. Okay, what? What happened? What is my life? Who am I? What? I have no words.

I stormed back to the scene of the crime. I was furious, both at the bucket for not cooperating and myself for not knowing what was happening. The entire process happened like, five more times, but I failed every time. Also, I was soaked. I never really noticed it at the time, too caught up in my confusion and anger, but I was soaked. My pink dress had darkened into a red, my black leggings sticking to my skin. Despite the hot sun beating down on me, I was pretty cold. Refreshed at first, then just uncomfortable. I never connected any of this to my little escapade, but maybe I should have. Maybe I would have solved the mystery.

To this day, I'm left confused by the missing water. Perhaps there was a hole I wasn't seeing. Perhaps the water was in fact invisible. And maybe, just maybe, the water was magic.