Lesson 2 Urgent Call From Earth
Dry
The kitchen tap makes strange ____
It coughs. It spits once, and then goes ____
“Mom,” I shout out into the living room, “water is ____ coming out.”
“Alyssa, ____ Mom says.
She is watching the TV, where a ____ anchor is talking about the “flow crisis.”
This is what the media has been calling the drought ever since people ____ tired of hearing the word “drought.”
Now ____ crisis is entering a new stage.
We have no running water out of the ____
“To the mall!” says Uncle Basil.
My little brother ____ and I jump in Uncle’s truck.
As we pull into the ____ lot, we can see the crowd.
“You two go in. I’ll meet you inside,” Uncle ____ says.
Inside it’s like Black Friday at its worst ― but today it’s ____ televisions and video games people are after.
What I ____ in the carts in the checkout line are mostly water bottles. The essentials of life.
There is a look of impatience on the faces of the ____ in line.
There is ____ hostility, hidden by a thin layer of politeness.
Even that politeness is stretched ____
As I approach the back of the store for water bottles, I ____ I am too late.
The shelves are already empty.
I manage my way to the ____ aisle, trying my luck.
Sometimes people place unwanted items in the wrong ____
Lucky! I find a single case of water that someone abandoned there maybe yesterday, when it wasn’t ____ a precious commodity.
I reach for it, only to find it pulled ____ at the last second by a woman.
She stacks it on top of her cart ____ a crown on top of her canned goods.
“I’m sorry, ____ we were here first,” she says.
And then her daughter steps forward ― a girl I recognize from soccer ____ Hali Hartling.
____ her mother pulls their cart away, Hali leans closer to me. “I’m sorry about that, Alyssa.”
“Didn’t I share my water with you at the practice last week?” I point out ____ her.
“Maybe ____ could return the favor and share a few bottles with me.”
She looks back to her mother, who’s already moving down the aisle, then turns back to me shaking her ____
And then she gets a little bit red in the face, and turns to leave before it becomes ____ deep flush.
I look for Garrett,
I look for Garrett, whom I find in the ____ aisle. Then I see something.
Just past ____ frozen vegetables and ice cream, there is a case packed with ice.
I open the ____ and reach for a bag.
“What are you doing? We need water, not ____ he reminds me.
“Ice is water. Just help me,” I tell ____
Garrett and I put one bag of ice after another into our cart, until it is piled as high ____ it can get.
By now other people ____ taken notice and begin to empty the ice case.
The cart is ridiculously heavy now, and almost impossible to ____
Then, a man ____ a business suit comes up behind us.
He smiles.
____ like you could use some help.”
He doesn’t wait for us to answer before grabbing ____ cart’s handle.
“Thank you for helping us,” ____ tell him.
“Not a problem. We all need to help one ____
He smiles again, and I return the ____
It is good to know that ____ times can bring out the best in people.
I decide that one favor deserves ____
“Why ____ you take a bag of ice for yourself,” I suggest.
His smile ____ not fade. “I have a better idea,” he says.
“Why ____ you take a bag of ice for yourselves, and I’ll keep the rest.”
For a moment I think he is joking, but then realize ____ is serious. “Excuse me?”
He ____ still smiling, but his eyes scare me.
As long as his hands are firmly locked on the handle of our cart, there is nothing to prove that it’s ours and ____ his.
“Is there a problem here?” It is Uncle Basil. He has ____ just in time.
“Not at all.” The man looks at ____ ice with a bitter face, then leaves.