The Dangers of Being a Waterboy | Teen Ink

The Dangers of Being a Waterboy

June 16, 2012
By JakeDamon GOLD, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
JakeDamon GOLD, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
10 articles 4 photos 14 comments

I’m the village waterboy.

Since there’s only one per village, I count it an honor. My parents have always been proud of me, but even more so since I was elected to collect water that day two years ago and even though I only have a year left in the three year contract that came with being elected, I am counting the days until I can go back to a civilized life.
The pressures that come with being the Waterboy are brutal. I think I may have aged five years in the last two alone because of the stress. Your life is always in danger when on duty, and the consequences of any mistake would most definitely cost you your own life, not to mention the lives of the entire village. Let me tell you about my job starting with my background.
My name is Nash. I’m ten and seven summers old, and have been living in the village of Sitienti Castellum since I was five summers old. The village can be found under the surface of the Earth in a large cavern where my people were forced underneath like many others when the terrorists took over the planet’s water supply. Hoping to find an underground lake or stream, we moved below. Although a small body of water was found, after many years and hundreds of thousands of thirsty people drinking from it, it dried up and we couldn’t find another water source.
This meant if we wanted to stay alive, we would have to either allow ourselves to work under the fist of the Government as they called themselves, in exchange for a small amount of water to keep ourselves alive.

That, or steal as much of it as we could from the Government in the dead of night…
which is why every village has a Waterboy.

End of Part 1…


The author's comments:
I've been wanting to write a sci-fi short story set on a desert planet. Dune and Tatooine from Star Wars have given me plenty of inspiration. Although details may not be clear in this first section, It IS set on a planet mostly covered in sand. This is only part one, so stay tuned and enjoy because it gets better. :)

Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.