Water, Water, Everywhere, Not A Drop To Think

Once, a long time ago I came staggering out of the desert, grateful just to be alive. No one had ever crossed the desert before to find out who or what was on the other side. I was a fool to go so far but once in I was committed to my path. But I needed water before it was too late.

I spotted a good citizen. "Sir, may I trouble you for some water?"

"I should say not. What kind of fool thinking has got into you?"

"I just came out of the desert. Crazy, I know. And I need some water badly."

"Water is evil! It's a killer."

"Evil? You've got to have water!"

"Precisely! It enslaves the human condition, makes us its prisoner. In the Dark Days we esteemed water above all here in the desert. But it is a false god and our new modern thinking has risen over it. Hallelujah!"

"But how are you surviving without it?"

"Quite well, thank you! We are no longer bound by its chaining desire. We have un-needed it,  conquering nature. It's a glorious feeling! The Old Ways are gone, never to return."

"But I really need a drink!"

"Don't be so weak - nay, a quitter, I say! Stay strong and believe. If you believe you can do anything."

"Can I believe you'll give me some fucking water??"

"Haha, not I, my friend. I would not treat you so shabbily. Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you."

"That only works for people who want to live!"

"And living is what we're doing for the first time in history! Oh, what blind losers we were before! Constantly worrying and agonizing over foolish water. Come, join the latest hipness taking over the land in this the twilight of our civilization!"

"Any way I can be an uncool, unhip outcast water drinker?"

"You shouldn't think so little of yourself. You too can make it here!"

"Who would want to...? Tell me, does everyone here think like you do?"

"Oh, yes indeed! No freak, I! Just ask the Man From The Sky."

"The Man From The Sky?"

"Yes, a man came from the sky to deceive us, saying he had 'good news'. He tried to make fools of us, saying that if only we'd pass over the mountain we'd find enough water to last forever. But we showed Him!"

"How'd you do that?"

"By killing Him in the most cruel, barbarous way possible! If that doesn't tell you what kind of people we are I don't know what does. No losers we!"

"But what's the truth? Is there water beyond the mountain?"

"What matters truth? Is there even such a thing? I think not! What does matter is we got rid of that unbearable creature making us out to be fools saying we lived our entire existence in misery for no reason with water right under our noses. I ask you: look around, do you see water? Neither do I, ergo, ipso facto, no water anywhere."

At that point I could see he was beyond reason, trapped in his self-made world of self-made answers fitting so neatly into his self-made fate. I looked at his parched lips so proud, drowning in self-satisfaction he'd never found in the entirety of his forsaken life. So much did he thirst for this feeling he warped reality into this bent fantasy. Were they all really like that?

"So what happens if I try to travel over the mountain?"

"You'd be shot," he dryly replied. "Nothing can be allowed to jeopardize our way of life - especially now that we've found The Answer! Nothing."

"I don't care what you say, I want some damn water! The truth cannot harm a just cause."

"Fine! Go live with the losers and outcast, devoid of approval, despised be we, the new normal. You will live unordained, unvalued and unheard, scrounging the sands for meaning you'll never find. Dear sir, what sort of plan do you have in mind? It must be a mad one!"

"Plan? Well, I guess my plan is to wait for all the ignorant fuckers to die from thirst so the rest of us who actually want to live can start living."

"Ha! Good luck with that! I'm planning on reporting you to the puppet policeman for reckless behavior making me cry!"

Upon hearing my words, a homeless woman offered me a bottle of water, saving me. "Ah! That was refreshing! Here, try some too, my friend!"

"No, never, never! I'm a good person. I'm running away now!"

Seems crazy now, this madness of so long ago. Life here on the other side of the mountain is paradise found. Almost ninety percent of the population died, denying themselves water in popular fashion. We few survivors had had enough, starting over never to return. In a sense the madman I talked to was right, living life in perpetual pursuit of water was a game with no winning outcome. But that was their choice, mandated only by themselves.