A Fictional Narrative

 

It was the nearing the end of summer, the land was full of geysers and hot springs. Wherever we went, we had to watch our step. Our small village scattered around. The grass and trees were turning yellow, dying until next spring. The sky a deep, cold, blue with clouds covering the sun. Our groundwater supply was plentiful and ready for winter. Although our water pump system was slow, it still managed to get enough water through. Over the next few days, we continued preparations on buildings, farms and winter clothing. It was said to be a very deep snow this winter, we had to be prepared if we wished to survive.

                The next week there was an alarm going off. Everyone ran to the main hall to see what was wrong. They announced it was the groundwater supply, there was a cone of depression covering it. We had to pray that this would not cause a saltwater intrusion, or we would have difficulty getting water this winter. We had to find a fast and easy way to get water this season, we had to gather pails and pray there were porous rocks holding water in them with some permeable rocks nearby for farming. Although geysers and hot springs are a close water source, they contain high thermal features as well as varying amounts of arsenic.

                As we ventured across the land searching for water, we found various caves and sinkholes. Most of the caves were karst topography with many speleothems, which meant those caves were made of limestone. We ventured into these caves and managed to find another groundwater supply near the bottom. Groundwater in caves is slightly acidic, so we knew we couldn't bring this home with us. We had to continue our journey until we found a river flowing fresh water. As soon as we did find one, we got as much water as we could in our 14 pails and brought it home to store.

                The snow began to fall from the sky as we entered the small village. We had brought enough water to last us all winter and a little into the summer. This was only the beginning to another long journey.