The Water Well Chapter One

Instructions

The Water Well Hello. My name is Sophie Hill. I am twelve years old, and I’m probably gonna die before I turn twenty. But I try not to think about that. Anyways, I live in the village of Ailton. It’s a small place with maybe about fifty inhabitants. It’s the year 3015, and humanity is on the brink of extinction. There’s barely any water in the world now. The government keeps it safe and is in charge of how much each family gets. They say we have to ration it. And I say: Why? I mean, we’re all going to die anyway, there’s no denying that, so what’s the point of rationing it? There is a point, my great grandfather tells me. Our family has had a story passed down through generations. It says there is an infinite water well, buried deep in the only forest left on earth, a few days walk from my house (How that forest still exists is a mystery no one knows the answer to). Apparently, we just need the right people to find it. Special people, who don’t need water and have incredible senses. They can smell, hear, taste, touch, and see things 50 times better than anyone else can. When I was younger I would call them superhumans. Of course, I don’t actually believe the story. Sometimes I pretend to make him happy, but I’m really just faking it. I know that in a few years there will be nothing left here. The government rules the whole world. There are only about 200,000 people left in the world, and they’re spread out in villages across all the continents. Except for Antarctica, of course. Right now I’m sitting at my kitchen table in my house. The house has 6 rooms, 8, if you count the closets. I live with my parents, my great grandfather, my grandparents, my aunt and uncle, and my four younger siblings. No one else is here, everyone else is out working on the farm, sleeping, or playing outside in our dry front yard. Some kids at school envy me for having such a big house. I tell them it’s because I live with all of my family. I know from my books my house is not that big compared to houses in the old times, but it’s quite big compared to the other houses in my village. That’s partly the truth, but there's also another reason. I have an older brother. I think he’s twenty-seven, but I haven’t seen him in years. When I was 8, he ran away. Well, he didn’t really run away, but he left our family for a job in the government. I don't know how he got in, but I do know he really wanted it. Every month he sends home money. It’s not much, but it’s enough to cover the mortgage of our big house. My family hated when that happened. See, we really hate the government. Everyone in my village does. They don’t give us enough money, even though I know they can just print it. They say we have to ration our water, even though it doesn’t matter. They think they’re so important and amazing, but really, they suck. I don’t remember much from the day he left. Just a bunch of yelling, and crying. I remember the door slamming shut and my dad telling me to go to bed. That when I wake up in the morning everything will be okay. I think he was talking to himself too. It wasn’t okay. I wish he would come back. I wish there was enough water so we don't have to die. I wish my great grandfather's story is real. So yeah. My name is Sophie Hill, and welcome to my life.