The Essence of Water

NEW VERSION Chapter 24

I fill the tub to the brim with water and I heat it with a single thought. I take off my splint and sink down into the tub. I actually giggle like a five year old when I wash my hair and shave. My trouble seeps away. I close my eyes and breath deep, wishing the water would soak my pain away too.

My hair fans out in the water around me and I stare at the ceiling and watch the steam swirl in the air. I cup my hand and lift a palm full of water from the tub. It doesn't trickle off my hand like it would a normal person. Instead it simply sits in my palm. I let go and it drops back into the tub.

It only takes a single thought. I take a deep breath.

I keep my eyes open and watch the soapy residue float on the surface.

A single thought.

I touch the surface of the water with my fingertip. White spider webs shoot out from my finger tip. I pull away and watch the small quarter size disc of ice float on the surface. Aiden was wrong. It's not just about focus and discipline. It's about expanding the mind and being creative. It's about realizing and discovering and testing what water can really do. I poke the water a few more times until there are small disks of ice all around me. Then I heat the water back up until it steams and the ice melts.

I look closer at the steam. It's water, in a different form like ice and snow maybe but still water. I open my palm and hold it flat. I picture the earth like a globe hovering above my hand. The steam pulls in as though a vacuum is sucking it towards me.

The steam from the room swirls like a smoky globe above my hand. I tilt my head and picture it condensing and turning to ice. The globe freezes and drops into the tub. Water splashes violently over the sides and onto the wall. "Shit!" I cuss as the soapy water splashes into my eyes.

There's a knock on the door. "Is everything alright in there?" Aiden calls.

"Its fine, don't you dare come in!" I shout.

"I won't, I just wanted to make sure you didn't drown." I unplug the tub and melt all the ice. I pull the water off the floor and from my hair until it's dry.

"Bathroom is free," I tell Aiden when I emerge. I hold up the pieces of my splint and he pats the free spot next to him on the couch. I sit down and hold out my arm, he gently starts to wrap it.

"It doesn't feel as bad as before." I say as he starts tightening the splint. My eyebrows crease and I use my left hand to grab Aiden's and stop him. "Wait a second." I undo Aiden's work and slowly rotate my wrist. There's no pain. It feels stiff and there's some bruising, but it feels fine. I make a fist and let go. I make another fist and let go. No pain.

Aiden raises his eyebrows. "You know...you walked out here without limping too I noticed," he observes.

I catch his gaze and then pull my pant leg up. We both look. My ankle isn't swollen, like my wrist there is some light bruising but when I rotate my foot, no pain.

"Adie, what did you do?" Aiden asks.

"Nothing, I swear I just took a bath." Then I remember. A single thought. I wished the water to soak my pain away. "Oh!" I say with realization.

"What?" he demands.

"I remember wishing that the water would soak my pain away," I tell him.

"Adie please," he sighs.

I punch him in the arm. "I'm being serious. Would you please shut up and listen? What if you were wrong? You said that I needed to concentrate and be able to multi task on the details to be able to spread my mind into two different places at the same time and focus."