Swimming Hole – Friday Fictioneers

Amy Reese,

It’s time for Friday Fictioneers where writers are challenged to write a 100-word story based on a photo prompt.

All are welcome to participate. Join in!

My story is below.

faucet-21-224x3001
PHOTO PROMPT – © Madison Woods

(102 words)

Swimming Hole

They checked trees and rocks validating they had arrived at their swimming hole. Desi’s name etched into the rock confirmed it.

“Where’s the water?” said Desi.

Arnold squinted with dust in eyes. “Not enough rain. No swimming for us.”

Desi skidded a rock and it bounced off the cracked earth.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a cycle. Next year, we’ll be flooded,” said Arnold.

“What if it doesn’t happen?”

She climbed on top of a tire in the middle of the lake as a lizard scurried beneath. He put his arm around her and she shrugged it off.

“Wi-Fi it is,” he said.

*****************************

Thanks to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting every week. She’s so amazing and I appreciate all her hard work. Thank you to Madison Woods for supplying the photo.

You can find more stories from this week’s prompt here.

A note about my story: I did walk on the bottom of Folsom Lake (in California) when it was completely dried up. Oh, it was such a sad day. There’s water in it today, but the drought is still severe. Here’s a pic:

FolsomDrought 012
Folsom Lake at 17% capacity last year. There’s some tires for you.
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65 Comments

      1. Wow, okay that is really cool. We have a lake we visit on holidays and a few years ago – drought dried it all up. There were earlier settlers homes hidden under the lake too! amazing

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Dear Amy,

    I would be devastated if my swimming hole had dried up. I love WiFi but it’s no substitute for a good swim. Praying for rain to come your way. Good story.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    1. Rochelle, I thought you’d feel this way about a swimming hole. The consequences of a drought go beyond the farmers. Poor kids. Thanks so much, Rochelle.

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      1. There needs to be a happy medium – you were roasting and dry all winter and we were frozen and snow bound. Can’t the weather-gods balance it out? I would have been happy to spare 5 or 6 feet of snow. I’m sure I wouldn’t have missed them!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Oh, I wish we could balance it out. We need to get a call in to Mother Nature! Fix this, please. Oh, it’s going to be a hot one this summer, Trent. I can feel it already.

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      3. For whatever reason Mother Nature cut off her hot line so I can no longer call her and give her advice. I just get the cold shoulder. Hey, maybe THAT’s the problem, the hot line is on the west coast and we have the cold shoulder… OK, not funny 😉

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Actually, just over night it turned warm here. Up in NH we’ve had a few days in the 80s and I think we’re going to hit the 90s this weekend. I’m on Cape Cod and it’s 60s/70s – perfect for me. I’m not sure if this week of warm weather is a sign of a hot summer or just a fluke.

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  7. I thought this was inspired by your drought problem. It’s even a big story all the way out here. Today, a report said that Beverly Hills wastes more water than any other community in the State and the residents there show no willingness whatsoever in conservation. Whey must the wealthy constantly reaffirm every negative stereotype I have about them?

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    1. The drought problem is definitely hanging over us, especially going into the summer months. I heard that about Newport Beach, too. I think they’re one of the worst for over consumption of water. I guess they will be getting some pretty hefty fines. We’ll see if that makes any difference to them, Mark! Money usually speaks to the wealthy. That’s a language they understand. I hope so. Our biggest water users are the farmers which I think use about 80%! So, it’s a very complex problem. But every drop counts. People see green lawns and they think all is well. That’s not the case.

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  8. Great story! You’ve mentioned the drought a number of times to me – it’s interesting how the prompt made that connection for you.That’s a sad photo of Folsom Lake and must have been a strange experience.

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    1. Thank, Kelly. I hope this story highlights a different point of view than usual when I’ve talked about the drought. Here it’s from two kids, of course. My connection to this prompt was simply water. When I looked at it I simply thought that container is empty. I’m sure there will be lots of different takes with this one! It was a surreal experience at Folsom Lake that day. I’ll never forget it.

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    1. I’m glad you said that, Bjorn. I think it’s wistful, but it’s also very sad. These kids might not even know what they’ve lost, not until they can’t get it back…and that’s chilling. Thank you.

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    1. Thanks, Cathy. Oh, give us that rain. I can’t imagine a whole week! We did have that one week this past winter where it rained quite a bit. Everyone thought the drought was over. No! Send the rain, Cathy! Send it on over. 🙂

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  13. There’s a small lake down the street from where I grew up. The neighborhood gang spent hours down there – no swimming but lots of catfish and bull frogs and dragonflies. My world wouldn’t be the same if I hadn’t had the chance to play there. May it stay full for others to enjoy. Great story.

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    1. Oh, that’s great you had that experience growing up. I can imagine what a little swimming hole would mean to kids, especially one with bull frogs and dragonflies. Even if it wasn’t something you could swim in, it was a chance to enjoy nature and share it with others. What a great little treasure you had! I hope it’s still there. If the big lakes are drying up, what’s happening to the little swimming holes?

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      1. It is still there, now full of cattails and red-winged black birds, ducks, geese and the occasional pelican or swan. My parents still live in the house – we get to visit about once a year. Very special, it is.

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  15. I agree with Bjorn’s comment. Probably a lot of today’s youth would rather surf the internet than surf water. Our swimming place was called Bluff Hole on a tiny creek in the country. It’s still there and my son takes his children there to play and swim.

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    1. Oh, that’s just sad isn’t it, especially when you put it that way…surfing water or surfing the Internet. That’s great the place is still there! Bluff Hole, I love that name. That belongs in a book. 🙂 That must be gratifying that the next generation is enjoying the spot. Thanks, Russell.

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    1. I hope I don’t sound like a broken record. I just thought of a dried lake and was just reading articles related to that. So, it was on my mind and Folsom Lake I will never forget. So true about Wi-Fi. It’s a constant struggle to have balance.

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  21. Sad. I know the heartbreak just here in Florida with the drought we faced a few years back, the worries it brought on, and the lakes which dried up – some of which still haven’t made it back last I saw them.

    Great irony with the image of WI-FI distracting “us” from real world concerns.

    Randy

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    1. I feel that a lot of people here are in denial as if a few rain storms will bring about a full recovery. That’s just not going to happen. We need a lot of wet weather. I hope it comes. In the meantime, yeah we need to not take it for granted. Randy, I’m surrounded by green lawns and I’m sure everyone is using their Wi-Fi, too. Thanks so much.

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  23. To me, a dry lake is really scary, Amy. My parents and I lived on a small man-made lake in Ohio. A neighbor told me the dam gave way one time and most of the water drained out. It had been a mill stream and was strping fed. I still have dreams of the what it might have looked like drained. Some of the fish would be stranded and die. You’d see the junk early residents had dumped in the lake without a second thought. A terrible sight. I hope it rains a lot in future and California’s drought ends. — Suzanne

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    1. I think so, too, Suzanne. I got to see a dried lake up close about a year ago. Whole cities reappeared from the past, at least the ruins from them. It was pretty fascinating, but also a bit eerie. Whole ecosystems were destroyed, definitely. I hope things start improving quick. Thanks for your thoughtful comments.

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  24. I’m quite late reading, but I got here eventually. 🙂
    I’ve heard some pretty dire things about the drought forecast for California, especially this year. It’s pretty scary stuff. If I could, I’d give you some of the rain we’ve been getting lately.

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    1. That’s quite all right, David. I appreciate you getting a read in. It could be a pretty bad summer. Storm coming tomorrow. I hope it’s a real wet one! I wish you could, too. Can’t you somehow? Oh, pretty please.

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      1. So far we haven’t gotten too much, as in flooding, but I’m sure the farmers are happy about it here. This is about monsoon season in a lot of the world, so it’d be nice if they could send a couple to California. You’d love a few monsoons there.

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