The Essence of Water

OLD VERSION Chapter 26

I fill the tub to the brim with water and I heat it with a single thought. I take of my splint and sink into the tub. Lord help me, I actually giggle like a five year old girl when I wash my hair and shaved. I wash my trouble away; I close my eyes and breath deep, wishing the water soak my pain away.

My hair fans 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 like a small lake. I let go and it drops back into the tub.

It only takes a single though.

I take a deep breath.

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

A single thought.

I take my pointer finger and touch the surface. 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.

I smile and realize, this is what I need to practice. Aiden was wrong. It's not just about focus. It's about expanding the mind, it's about being creative. It's about realizing 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 just water, in a different form like ice and snow, but its still water. I open my palm and hold it out flat. I picture the earth like a globe hovering above my hand. Then I imagine it turning to steam. All around me the steam pulls in as though a vacuum is sucking it towards me.

All 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 over the sides and onto the walls and in my face. "Shit."

There's a knock on the door.

"Is everything alright in there?"

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

"Alright." I unplug the tub and melt the ice. I get the water off the floor and walls and pull it from my hair until it's dry. I look at myself in the mirror, and smile. Maybe I should keep my creativity outside.

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

"It doesn't feel as bad as before." I say. He starts tightening the splint. Still no pain. My eyebrows crease and I use my left hand to grab Aiden's. "Wait a second." I undo Aiden's work and slowly rotate my wrist. There's no pain. It feels stiff, and there is some light bruising, but it feel 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."

I catch his gaze, and then I 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, again, no pain.

"Adie, what did you do?"

"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.

"What?" he demands.

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

"Adie please, I told you the water doesn't have emotion."

I punch him in the arm, "Would you please shut up and listen? What if you're 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."