Have you ever been desperately thirsty? Drink out of a mud puddle thirsty?
My brother in law was visiting. It is a treat, his company, travelling far and sharing his time with us. So with his arrival the celebration began. After an evening sharing many beer and a bottle of wine we tucked in for the night. It is then, that I experienced thirst like no other.
I was travelling, visiting kitchens of folks with no faces, but with a feeling of familiarity and friendship. Other places unknown, new to me. All quite pleasant, and all with one thing in common. Water. As dreams often take you, chopped and pasted together with little continuity, there I was gulping glass after glass of crystal clear water. It sparkled and shined like the sun, magic in my hand.
Then I woke up. My breath like dust in my mouth.
Nothing dries you out like wine. It sucked water from each cell that forms my being. Certain if I were to glimpse my image reflected at me I would see a shrivelled mummified creature. I dared not look when I passed the mirror hung on my bedroom wall. Instead, searched for my robe and traipsed upstairs at 2:00 am. A glass is left on the counter, I grab for it and fill it. Eyes half, closed, brain only functioning with one purpose, screaming WATER at me, I gulp it down. Then realize the off taste is due to the dried milk from the previous user. It was the glass Owen had used at supper.
This has happened to me before. Well, not the dream, but the desperation from thirst. Far from a water source, and not fussy about the ownership of water bottles, I drank what was left of each I could find. Mart's, Reiley's, Owen's. Owen's bottle was last. It wasn't until the last few gulps remained that my brain stopped screaming WATER at me, and I was able to process other things. Unfortunately it was to notice Owen's snack floating in the water that remained.
The next day, the ache in my head reminded me of my dehydrated state, but after the milky drink, my gag reflex won out over my thirst. I had returned to bed to finish the night in a fitful sleep without another drop.
The moral of this story: Make sure you drink plenty of water after wine, and kids backwash.
2 comments:
My thirstiest moment:
My family and I were heading to Amsterdam from the island of Curacao. Our plane got delayed, but not until we had already gotten through security. There were no refreshments at the gate. It was poorly air conditioned. I was thirty BEFORE we went through security, but mum had thought there would be a pop machine or something on the other side. Nope. We waited an hour and a half. I was 12 and horribly thirsty. Then we boarded and sat on the hot tarmac for half an hour. After we finally got into the air they came around with a drink service... alcohol. The water/pop/juice cart didn't come for half an hour later. I was so thirsty I sucked the lemon in my mother's G&T. Sucked it DRY.
that's funny. tastiest lemon ever I bet.
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