The heat hit me the moment I walked out of the door. It was hot in the house, but this was something much different, and much worse. The news had said that it was going to be well over 100 degrees for two weeks.

The children had been let out of school and told to keep cool, most stayed home from work because of the heat, and many didn’t even have running water. I guess I was one of the fortunate ones. I still had running water, and still had air in my house.

People were running all around the neighborhood trying to stay warm. I walked out and sat on my pouch, I wasn’t sure why, it was like an oven out side, but I just felt that it wasn’t far to even one else that didn’t have air or water, that I could just sit in my house and live it up.

Children play with balls and sit in pools, and parents sit with the sprinkler spraying on them. That was what you saw for the last two weeks, and that’s what we’re going to be seeing until this heat wave is over.

And then I see it. The long line of people standing in the middle of the street. They looked as to be waiting for something. I get from my chair to get a closer look, when I see that they’re waiting for what just about no one but me has, water.

People lined for miles, just waiting for a bucket of the cool spring water. But then I see a shadow, no two shadows. Both walking toward the line of water. Then I realized what they are, a mother and her child. Both looking as if they would die without this water. And they probably will.

That’s when I make the split decision to get them some water, and quick. After going into my house and filling two buckets full of it, and started out to the woman.

“Miss, I see its very hot out, and you and your child were about to go get some water and I just wanted to give you this.” I offered her the water. And I was very surprised at her response.

“Thank you, but I can get my own water. Now go away.” She said.

I said nothing back and just back away slowly. What was wrong with this woman? Couldn’t she see her child was going to die without this?

I waited about an hour, and watched how the woman and her child were still standing in the line, and seemed to be getting worse. So again I tried to give her the water.

“Miss please, you’re going to die if you don’t take this. And I don’t want that.” I say.

“Go away!” She yells. “Cant you see I’m doing fine on my own!” She says.

So away, I start to back away. Just to see a tragedy. That child she had next to her, falls over and dies.

“No!” The woman cried.

I rushed up to her one more time. “Miss please I don’t want…”

She stopped me. “I don’t want your wa…” She couldn’t say anything else, because that woman fell over and died.