The Journey: ​An educational story by Clifton Sadler 

Part one: How it all began... 

​ trange
A little while ago, something ​very s
happened to me. I drowned in a lake. I thought
I was dead. I can’t tell you how long I had
been floating around in that lake for. It
could have been a few days, it could have been
a few years. It doesn’t seem like anyone
noticed me since I was still in the lake, so
it couldn’t have been long. It’s all a blur to
me now, I can barely even remember anything
that happened that year before I drowned in
that lake.

The next thing I can remember is being frozen. In case you didn’t
know, water freezes because the molecules get really cold and they
kind of slow down and become closer together, rather than being far
apart like they are in a liquid. I remember being conscious, but
everything had gone numb. I couldn’t feel how cold it was, I couldn’t
hear, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t smell. ​It was like I had become one
with the water...

​Part two: Jabu Jabu’s habitat... 

I remember being frozen in that lake for what seemed to be several
eternities. It couldn’t have been long but I remember in what could
have been a hallucination, I shrunk down to the size of an ant and I
met some big fish guy on the surface of the ice. I felt human again,
it didn’t feel like I was a water droplet anymore. He looked like
Jabu Jabu in ​Ocarina of Time. ​“Hello, young man,” he said to me.
“What might your name be?” He sounded just like my dad. It was so
surreal. I wasn’t thinking of anything in that moment, it was like I
was the center of the universe, I was all that existed. I suppose
that you really are the only person in your dreams...I respond, “I’m
Jakey,” without one bit of hesitation. “Well, young Jacob, you have
quite the journey ahead of you...the journey of the hydrological
cycle.”

I vaguely remembered that phrase from science class in middle

school, but those days seemed so far away now. I didn’t care about
science class, it didn’t apply to me anymore. Not to mention that
middle school was terrible for me. There was no point in wasting any
mental capacity in thinking about science class again, I had
graduated from high school a decade before, and I dropped out of
college 4 months after I started. I was done with school, and I
wasn’t going to waste time thinking about it again. “...What are you
talking about?” I asked him. I imagine in my circumstances at the
time, you’d be pretty confused, too. But, I wasn’t confused by the
situation, more by the statement.

“I won’t bother explaining it to you.” My expression changed to a

grimace. He started to turn away when I said in my typical growly
voice, “Get back here!” I held out my hand as if I was trying to grab
him. All I grabbed was air.

It was as if he didn’t hear me. He just turned away. It was so

strange. It felt like I was just a passive observer, and it all
happened so fast.

​Part three: The journey begins… 

Suddenly, I froze again. I blacked out, everything numb. I had
nothing but my thoughts. I suddenly remembered what Jabu Jabu had
said just a second ago. “The journey of the hydrological cycle.” It
was starting, wasn’t it? I remembered middle school science class for
the first time in God only knows how long. I mostly remembered how
much I hated it. In the back of my mind, I also remembered the water
cycle. Water evaporates, sublimates, condensates, precipitates, and
transpirates. I realized what Jabu Jabu meant. I was ​part ​of the
water cycle now. I was sublimating now. There was no stopping it. The
water cycle had been going on for 3 billion years and it wasn’t going
to stop now just because I got caught in the middle of it.
 I sublimated and became water vapor because of the energy from the
sun. I had no concept of time anymore, so I couldn’t tell you how
long it took. The energy from the sun made the molecules of the
frozen lake I was in go from solid straight to gas. That’s how the
water cycle goes, water evaporates into the air, becoming gas, then
eventually condenses into a cloud, therefore becoming liquid again. I
remembered the term “phase change”. Phase change is a term typically
associated with the water cycle describing water changing from one
state of matter to another. That was what was happening to me. I was
solid when I was frozen, and now I was gas, and I was eventually
going to become liquid when I became a cloud.

So, I evaporated into the air and eventually became a cloud

because of the lack of energy from the sun in the atmosphere. But
there was something inside the cloud…

​Part four: The cloud kingdom… 

I was inside the cloud. I felt human again. I was no longer a
water droplet (at least for now). I still wasn’t an actual person, I
didn’t really know what I was.

Inside the cloud were other people, having

a party of some sort. The interior of the
cloud looked just like a regular house, but
everything was white. Everyone’s skin was
white as snow and they were all dressed in
white robes just a little darker than their
skin. They were all drinking some sort of
fancy champagne. They all stopped dead in
their tracks and carefully examined me. One
of them who looked older than any of the
others (but who’s voice sounded no older
than mine) said to me, “You don’t belong here…” He was only
confirming what I already knew. “But we are hospitable people, so
we’ll take care of you for now.”

“Well...before we do anything...I think you should look at

yourself in the mirror...” he said. I suddenly noticed he had a faint
accent. I wasn’t sure where his accent came from, but it was of no
concern to me. I followed him to a swanky looking bathroom with
mirrors on every wall, even in the stalls.

I looked at myself. I looked terrible. My veins were sticking out

everywhere, but it was particularly bad on my neck. It looked like a
few fish in the lake had been nibbling on me, I was even paler than I
usually was, and my eyes were bloodshot.

“What...happened to you?” he asked.

“It’s...a bit complicated.” I answer.
“Hmm...quite puzzling…” The elder said.
“I guess I should introduce myself.” I tell the elder. “I’m Jakey.
I’m 28 years old.”
He told me, “Well, I have time.” He laughed hoarsely “Oh, do I
have time…” He said a little quieter “I don’t think I’ll ever run ​out
of time.” His face looked conflicted.
“I hope this isn’t an offensive question to ask...but if you don’t
mind me asking...how..old ​are ​you?” I asked him.
“Well, firstly, you needn’t worry about offending me, believe me,
I’m quite thick-skinned. Secondly, we should discuss this in my
quarters.”

I had almost forgotten that we were in the bathroom. He took me to

his little office. It was almost as swanky as the bathroom. He sat me
down on a sofa in there. He pulled out a chair and sat across from
me, cross-legged. He started talking. “As I was saying, I’m not quite
sure. After a while you stop keeping track of the years. But, if I
had to give an estimate, I’d say about 3,000 years. You see, no one
ever drank me. I’ve gone through the cycle more times than I care to
count. My voice still sounds the same because water doesn’t ever go
bad.”
“But, if water doesn’t go bad, then why do you look older than
everyone else?” I was beginning to be intrigued by this trip I was
on.
“Well, over time, a little bit of carbon dioxide will dissolve in
the water, making it taste a bit more sour, but water still doesn’t
go bad.”

He laughed his hoarse laugh again. “I suppose I’ve gotten a bit

off track. Now, what was I asking you a second ago, again?”
“You were going to have me tell you how I got here, I think.”
“Oh, yes! Thank you!”
“Well, firstly...thanks for telling me ​your ​story.”
 “Oh, you needn’t thank me, the good citizens of this cloud have
heard my story so many times, I feel that little story is all they
hear when I talk to them, no matter what I’m saying.”
I grinned a little bit at that, not because I found it
particularly funny, just to be polite, I suppose.
“Well, anyway...uh...I was swimming in a lake...and...uh...well, I
drowned, I froze, and I just evaporated, and eventually I became part
of this cloud.”

I laughed a little at my own story. He looked at me for a brief

moment before saying, “Well, then. Welcome to this cloud. It’ll only
be a temporary residence, of course, you’ll precipitate eventually,
but for now, you’re one of us.” I asked him, “Is...there...any way to
get out of the water cycle?”

“Oh, I forgot!” the elder said, “You use to be a human!” His look
changed from a fairly warm, welcoming look to something colder.

“......I’m sorry,” he said.

I stared at him for a second. I couldn’t accept that I wasn’t

human any more, I wasn’t ready.

“Here, let’s go into the main hall,” he said.

“You know, I never caught your name,” I said.
“Oswald,” he replied.
“Nice to meet you, Oswald.” We got up and went into the main hall.
When we got there he asked, “Would you care for some champagne?”
“No, I’m not old enough to drink,” I said.
“Age is irrelevant when you’re part of the water cycle, just look
at me!”
I laughed a little. “Well, sure.”

We sat down with other cloud people as we drank. “So what did you
do when you were a human, Jacob?”
I answered, “I was a journalist, I was a writer for ​The Washington
Post.​ I wrote all sorts of essays and stories and things. For a while
I had an advice column, too.​”
“Hmn. I’ve had a few friends in the past who precipitated onto an
issue of ​The Washington Post. ​As you know, water droplets aren’t
really concerned about what is going on on Earth. Although we ​do ​know
how to read, it’s not particularly useful to us.
 “So, uh...on an unrelated note, what am I going to be doing here?”
I asked. He answered, “We’ll take care of you, don't worry. We
usually just hang out here until we precipitate.”
“Oh…”

I just talked to some of the other cloud people and, as Oswald

said I would, I just hung out for a few days before I precipitated.

​Part five: Precipitation… 

It was inevitable that I was
going to precipitate eventually.
After all, gravity causes rain to
fall, and gravity never stops. As
the force of gravity pulled me
down, I wondered if the water
cycle would ever stop. Sure, it
had been going on for 3 billion
years, but everything has to come
to an end eventually. The only
thing truly infinite is human
stupidity. I remembered the Albert
Einstein quote, “Two things are
infinite: the universe and human
stupidity; and I'm not sure about
the universe.” I laughed a little.
As I fell, I felt the weight of what was happening to me. I could
​ could never kiss my wife, I
never go back to writing for ​The Post, I
could never again look at my baby, I had to leave it all behind just
so I could be a water droplet.

I saw all the other water droplets falling down. I hoped I would
fall into a nice big ocean with all these surely lovely people.
...Or..well..not people. Water droplets. I would be happy with an
ocean, at least as happy as I could be as a water droplet. As I fell
I noticed something I hadn’t noticed before. I had been in the cycle
for weeks now, but it all seemed like a blur. The concept of time was
completely irrelevant now. It was just like Oswald said.

​Part six: My empire of dirt… 

As you would expect, the cycle continued after I precipitated.
Unfortunately, I didn’t land in an ocean like how I wanted, I landed
in soil. There was a big sunflower in the soil about 2 feet tall.
But, the inhabitants of the soil weren’t nearly as friendly as the
people in the clouds. There were a bunch of worms and ants and things
in there that wanted nothing more than to drink me. Having creatures
that wanted to drink me made me feel much more comfortable going
through the water cycle, but I still didn’t want to be drank by a
bunch of bugs. But, luckily, there was a place for the water droplets
to hang out away from the bugs.

When I seeped into the soil, I noticed how little control I had
over my life now that I was a water droplet. I just went wherever the
cycle would take me, no matter what I wanted. A fellow water droplet
said hello to me and asked my name. “Jakey,” I said, “I’m kind of new
to the cycle.”
“That’s weird,” he said in response, “I haven’t met someone who was
new to the cycle in quite a while.” His face looked quite curious.
“Well, nice to meet you, Jakey. Welcome to my little home for now.
In case you didn’t know, a plant will absorb us from the soil soon.”
“Good to know...” I say. My mind was distant, I wasn’t thinking about
the joys of being absorbed by a plant, I was thinking of how much I
​ lse. I would even take back my old job as a
would rather be ​anywhere e
news anchor for ​Fox…

“What’s your name?” I asked after a few seconds of silence.

“Kenneth,” he replied. “You know, there are a lot of worms in here-”
he said after a little while. I cut in, “You think?” He continued on
as if I hadn’t said anything.
“We built a little room for the water droplets free of worms.” I
felt relieved.
“Where is it?” I asked almost as soon as he had said that.
“Right over here,” he pointed to a little door that looked nearly
indistinguishable from the rest of the soil. “Here, let’s go,” he
said. He led me into the little room. It was like a lounge. There
were a bunch of other water droplets just like me just hanging out
there, just chatting.

“So, how new are you?” Kenneth asked.

“Well, actually, I’ve only been going through the cycle for a few
weeks.” Kenneth was quite surprised.
“Oh, wow. Really? Huh. So, I imagine you might need me to catch
you up a little?”
“Yeah, I don’t know too much about it. You see, I...I used to be
a human.”
​ ’ve never met someone who used to be ​human ​before! How
“​Really!? I
did you become a water droplet if you used to be a human!?”
“I don’t really know, to be quite honest.” I replied, “You see, I
was just swimming in a lake...and...I drowned, I froze, I met some
big fish guy, I sublimated, I precipitated, and most recently I
seeped in here.”
“Hmn...quite curious… So, what kind of person were you?”
“I was a journalist, I wrote for a newspaper.”
“Do you miss it?”
Thinking about it again made my eyes watery. “Yeah. I mean,I miss
my job and all, it was a good job, but I really just miss my wife and
my baby. We only got married a few months ago…”
“...Sorry..”
“N-no,” I stuttered. In my mind, I was thinking that I should
just forget about my past life. Moping wasn’t going to do any good.
“I don’t need your pity. But...I still miss it…” I had nearly forgot
what we were actually talking about. “…Uh…sorry, I got a bit off
track didn’t I?” I laughed a little. I was just trying to lighten the
mood. “Now, anyway, you were going to catch me up on the cycle,
weren’t you, Kenneth?”
“Oh, yes,” his voice cracked, “The cycle... Um...eventually the
plant in the soil will absorb you. Then eventually you will transpire
into the atmosphere, condense into a cloud, and precipitate into one
of the many, ​many, ​many r
​ eservoirs on Earth. I’ll probably be along
for the ride with you.”
“Do you think I could fall into an ocean?”
“Eventually, you probably will. 97 percent of Earth’s water ​does
come from the ocean after all. In fact, 71 percent of Earth ​in
general ​is water.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember learning about that as a kid.”
Suddenly a flood of memories from when I was a kid came rushing to
my mind. I remembered my childhood in Washington. I remembered how
little my parents used to be around, and how much freedom it granted
me. The last time I had seen my parents was a year before I
graduated, right before I moved away. Technically, I couldn’t legally
move out at the time, but I never got in trouble. I remembered all
the friends I shared middle and high school with. But oddly, I
couldn’t remember a single thing from elementary. All I could
remember from elementary was a friend I had back then who later went
on to work with me for ​The Post​. Then, once again, I remembered my
friend from elementary, Rick, and how I would never see him again.
Nor would I ever see my editor at ​The Post, m​ y friend Jerry. Nor
would I ever see my wife or my child. I couldn’t get it out of my
mind. I worked with Tucker Carlson when I worked for ​Fox, ​and I even
missed ​him.

I realized just as suddenly as those memories had come back into

my mind that I had just been staring blankly at the door of the room
as I thought of these things. I snapped back to the reality of the
situation. I was a water droplet now, and there was ​nothing ​I could
do about that. “You were saying about the cycle, Kenneth?”
“Well, that’s about all I had to say on the matter.”
“Oh.”

I talked to the other water droplets in the lounge and noticed

that most of them had been people from my cloud who landed in the
same spot. Even Oswald was there. This time he offered me tea. I
thought about it a little and a strange thought crossed my mind. If I
was drinking a liquid, it had to come from water, but if I was a
water droplet now, then does drinking liquids make me a cannibal? I
mean, water droplets don’t ​need ​to drink liquids. We can survive
without them. I never asked Oswald about it, but I haven’t drank
liquids since.

It didn’t take long before I was absorbed by the plant in the soil
and the cycle continued.

​Part seven: Ray of sunshine… 

I was absorbed by the sunflower in the
soil. As I was being absorbed by the flower,
as it always did when I was unwillingly
being transferred from one reservoir to another, my mind wandered
aimlessly. I thought that it was quite strange that as I progressed
further into the water cycle, I became less human. At first, I was a
person, then I was a ​cloud ​person, now I’m just water. But, thinking
about it didn’t make it any better, and it didn’t make it any easier
to find a reason why, so I dismissed the thought almost as soon as it
had crossed my mind.

The plant absorbed me and would use me to grow, turn me into food
through photosynthesis, and exhale me through the stomata so I would
transpire into the atmosphere. And that all happened...​very​...slowly.
I’m not going to bore you with the details, but in the stomata I met
Kenneth again. I said hello. We had a little conversation, not about
the hydrological cycle, not about my life as a human, just about
random things. I enjoyed it. For a brief moment while I was engaged
in that conversation, I forgot all about my troubles.

But eventually, as it always does, the cycle does go on…

​Part eight: The cycle goes on… 

So, as I was being exhaled through the stomata of the sunflower
​ id, I pondered my
and subsequently being transpired, as I ​always d
situation. It was the same as the last time and the time before. I
won’t bother repeating it. It was very hot that day. The increased
temperatures likely led to the transpiration that was happening right
now since there was more energy. I condensed into a cloud because of
the release of energy, I hung out there in that cloud with the other
cloud people, I precipitated again, I fell into the lake I drowned in
because of gravity, a deer drank me to stay hydrated, I was urinated
out by the deer back into the lake, and it was disgusting.

As I’m writing this, I’m in a cloud, I just recently evaporated

from that lake. I still haven’t fallen into the ocean. If I was still
​ s short
human, I’d probably submit this story to ​The New Yorker a
fiction, but there’s no reason to dwell on the past anymore, I
suppose. As I’m writing this, my cloud is blocking the sun, but it
won’t be for long.

The cycle goes on...

The End
​