Oh, wise fish named Pete,
you were among those to survive the heat.
Help me to tell the story of a man strong, unselfish, and witty,
who went on a journey to bring water back to his thirsty city.

He went through weeks of hardship to bring back
water so that the crops could grow once again, and
people could live without worry of dying of dehydration.

Please, Pete, help me to tell of this hero’s journey
through cities and states,
from Kansas all the way to New Hampshire,
where people would finally decide to help this man.

The Drought
The storm was brutal,
wind and tornadoes for days, but no rain.
Trees fell, all power went out,
people hid in their basements and waited for an end.

Finally after four long days and nights,
the wind stopped and everyone came out to see the damage.
They were used to tornadoes, living in a small town in Kansas.
This was no ordinary storm, though.
There were trees down everywhere which
was normal.
So was the fact that the power was out.
The strange part was that all of the water
in the lakes, streams, and rivers was gone.
It had been a hot and dry summer, but this was just strange. In fact, there was no water coming out of the plumbing in the homes.

Normally, the water supply came from a river that flowed through the town. The problem was that the storm caused a tree to fall across the river and block the flow of water. Without the water the people had to rely on the water they could purchase at stores which was in limited supply.

After a few days that water had been purchased and stored.
There was no water to buy, and
deliveries were impossible because of all of the fallen trees.
This meant that there was need for a leader to get water
for the community.

A Brave Leader Steps Up
His name was Jeff.
He was the police chief and was
known and respected by everyone for his
bravery, determination, and courage in the community.

Jeff was known in the community for always being there to help, and he was always determined to do whatever it took to help someone in need.

Jeff saw that there was a desperate need for water. He got his family and some friends,
and they set out on a journey
with the hope of getting water and help to regain electricity.
Jeff was determined to make this journey
because it was the middle of summer, and without electricity
there was no air conditioning. Also, with little available water
and no way of getting deliveries of water,
the people were in danger of serious dehydration.

The Journey Begins
Jeff and his crew drove up to Nebraska.
They had little money and couldn’t take much with them.
Jeff and a few of his men met with the governor
and asked if he would be willing to help supply
his community with water.
Jeff couldn’t get any help from Nebraska.

Jeff and his crew continued to move on
and couldn’t seem to get much help.
They stopped in Michigan and met with their people.
Michigan refused to give any water or electricity to Jeff’s community.

The End of a Car
While in Michigan Jeff’s car broke down.
He didn’t have much money to fix it, and the car shop charged a steep price.
Out of nowhere a tall strong man appeared like quick summer rain storm.
The man didn’t seem to be human.
Jeff came to know him as Henry,
a god sent to protect him on the journey.
He told Jeff to go to New Hampshire
and that he would eventually find water and return home,
but it would be a struggle.

Eventually Jeff made it all the way to New Hampshire.
The city he entered had many rivers that flowed over rocks like hot fudge flowing over a mountain of ice cream. To get in to the building where he would ask for water,
he had to climb up ten long flights of stairs.
When he reached the top he went inside. Before he could speak
with anyone he collapsed of exhaustion.

A man in the front office helped him up
and asked what Jeff needed. The man told him that he
would have to go all the way down to the basement
and talk to a man named Gerald to get help.

Jeff Finds Help
Jeff went down the elevator to floor two. From there he had to
take the creepy old wooden staircase. He climbed
down the steps and opened the door
to a dark cold room.

The room was quiet and smelled like a basement that had water damage. It was very cold. The only light came from the buttons and knobs that were attached to computers that controlled the electricity for building and most of the city.

The man inside was old and hunched over. He greeted Jeff and said that
he had been expecting him. Jeff asked if the man was
Gerald and the man said yes.
Soon Jeff realized that Gerald was his great uncle
who he had not seen in years but loved as a child. Gerald brought back memories of Jeff’s childhood and he began to miss his father. Although he was sad, Jeff continued on remembering what he needed to accomplish. Jeff told Gerald about the hardships his town was facing.
Gerald said that he would help.

The Water Thief
Jeff was so happy to finally find someone to help.
Gerald and Jeff along with Jeff’s crew loaded up water and generators
and headed back to Kansas.
After a full day of driving, Jeff and Gerald and the crew
spent the night at a hotel in Iowa. While they were sleeping
some of the water was stolen.

Gerald and Jeff had to go back
to a small town in Illinois to get more water for the town.
They took as much water as they could pack
and headed back to Iowa before anyone could frown
about the missing water which they needed not to lack.

As they entered the last part of the journey home,
Jeff and his crew stopped at a restaurant
for lunch. When they had finished eating
they got the bill. They were thirty dollars
short of the amount of money they needed.
The workers at the restaurant would not allow
them to leave until the bill was paid.

While this was happening Jeff got a call from his town
that the last of the water had been consumed and
many people were becoming severely dehydrated.
Jeff had to find a way to get home soon. Luckily,
Henry came to the rescue and provided him with
money and made the streets clear so
Jeff could get home faster. Now Jeff hurried home
without waiting another minute.


The Final Test
Just before Jeff entered his home town, he ran into another problem. There was a fallen tree in the middle of the road and there was no way of getting around it in cars.

Jeff and his men tried to push the tree out of the way but it was too heavy. After waiting for a few hours and thinking about what to do, Jeff decided to call Henry and ask for help. Henry came and pushed the tree out of the way. Jeff thanked Henry for all that he had helped with along the journey. Henry said that he would always be there to help Jeff and that he hoped the last part of the journey would go easily.

Jeff got everyone together and they got back into the cars and drove the last part of the journey home. Jeff was so excited to get home. He was ready to finally be able to deliver the lifesaving water along with the generators so that his community could finally get back to living their normal lives.

The Drought Is Ended
When Jeff got home, weeks after he had left,
most of the trees had been cleared out. He handed out the water
and set up the generators which helped power up
electric saws to help clear out the tree
which had been blocking the river.

Once the tree was removed, water flowed freely through the river again like the tears of a joyous mother reuniting with her child. This was a refreshing sight for the town because they all needed the river and its cool clear water to flow through it.
Soon all of the power was working again and houses were being fixed up. Life went back to normal. People were able to sleep through the night hydrated and cooled by their air conditioning again. After the experience from the storm the community chose not to waste so much water and worked together to help others who were not blessed with clean and abundant sources of water.

The town was so happy and proud
of Jeff because of his courage and care,
and Jeff was happy to help the crowd,
everyone living there.