Janvier Soldat And The Glass'ed Water Trap

"I am going to die," thought Click-Taktak (Click-Taktak's language is of a guttural tongue, there is no proper way to pronounce his name). He was currently treading water looking for a hold on the smooth, wet surface of the trap, made even worse because he can look out through the glass wall. Thankfully the water level wasn't high, but he would probably have prefered it to be much much higher. High enough for him to reach the opening of the trap so far up at the ceiling.

His tribe has never had trouble if they'd fallen down wells and such before - they've always been equiped such that any wall would always provide enough traction for them to find a grip. Not this trap, though. Someone had evilly devised such a trap where he not only find a grip, but the walls curved inwards, like a cone tapering at the top.

A sudden, disturbing thought: a large pitcher plant. This water, is it just water?

Click-Taktak tried the wall again.

***

It was just past midnight when Janvier got back from a musical and supper (A&W's onion rings, ice cream waffle and root beer float, yum!) and was a tad thirsty. Locking the front door as he walks into the house, he takes out his iPod Touch and waits for it to connects online, smiling at the joys of having a wireless router installed at home. After a few seconds, he's online and begins checking his emails. After his emails, he switches to Facebook as he's waiting for a particular reply.

During all this, he proceeds to the kitchen, gets his Starbucks Mug, ice and proceeds to pour himself a glass of water. The house is dark save for the light at the staircase and the kitchen light. Janvier's eyes never left the iPod Touch as he pours himself a glass of water - just like how he always has his nose in a book while eating.

Little did Janvier know, Click-Taktak's fate were in his hands.

***

Click-Taktak doesn't feel tired. He's just feeling a bit lost, wet and confused. It's a while now and he doesn't feel anything from the water except for getting wet. No burning, no itchiness, and he doesn't notice any peeling or reddishness. That's a good sign.

While the trap may be made of glass, the images were distorted. So much so that when someone approached the trap he looked like a deformed giant to Click-Taktak! His heart pounding, Click-Taktak didn't dare move a muscle, hoping that whoever it was approaching the trap was not his captor coming to enslave, or worse, kill him...

After a while, Click-Taktak realized he was holding in his breath. He exhaled slowly and noted that the giant did not pay him any attention, although he was clearly near the trap. Click-Taktak was unnoticed as of now.

Slowly, he backed away to the wall away furthest from the giant and tried climbing again...

***

Emails took a bit of time getting through, and the ice in Janvier's cup had already melted by the time he took a second sip of water. He hadn't gotten his reply yet, and guess it'll come in tomorrow morning instead. He finally takes his eyes off the iPod Touch and turns to finish his cup of water.

***

Click-Taktak's heart was pounding. The giant was taunting him, tormenting him, like a cat to a mouse! No, not a giant, but a monster! Whichever wall Click-Taktak was near by, horrible shadows loomed over him and the walls thundered!

"Please let this be a dream..." whimpered Click-Taktak. He can't even be sure if he'd relieved himself, he was wet all over as the water spashed all over.

***

Janvier continued staring at the jug of water with a grim look on his face, his lips pressed so hard together they formed a thin line and his eyebrows a V on his forehead. We don't feel like throwing up, in fact we don't feel nauseated, he thought. That's good. If we had felt bile rising and the urgent need to go throw up, your fate would have already been decided.

Janvier just sat there, looking into and occasionally slapping the sides of the jug. He had a tricky decision to make here.

Should he just leave the jug alone, and let mum learn the truth the next morning? Most likely, things might have taken a turn for the worse and the jug would have to be thrown away.

Should he wash the jug now?

While thinking about it, Janvier updated his Facebook status:

Janvier Soldat the humanitarian contemplates a lizard's fate.

In the end, Janvier took the jug out to the back lane, threw the water away into the general direction of the neighbours drain, checked that the lizard was no longer in the bloody jug, filled it with water and soap and went to shower.