‘I’m scared’, the young boy said. ‘Come on, just dip one foot in the water. It’s really not that bad’, the young boy’s father said. ‘But what if I drown? What if there’s a shark?’ ‘There isn’t. Come on now’, the father said, while moving himself further into the water. ‘I’m just going to stay here, I think’, the young boy said, walking off to collect some seashells on the shore. The father let out a deep sigh, watching his son walk off. Useless boy, he thought.

‘I’m scared’, the young man said. ‘Don’t be such a scaredy cat, man. Come on! We are all waiting for you!’ one of the young man’s friends shouted. ‘I don’t know. It doesn’t look very safe.’ ‘It is safe. Get over yourself!’ his friends laughed while moving further into the deep. ‘I think I’ll just stay here. I’ll get you guys some beers’, the young man said while moving away from the water as far as he could. ‘Whatever man’, one of his friends said.

‘I’m scared’, the middle-aged man said. ‘Come on, darling. Just give it a try’, the middle-aged man’s wife said. ‘I am sorry, sweetheart. I just can’t do it.’ ‘Alright’, his wife disappointedly said, while slowly turning away from her husband. ‘I will get you some ice-cream when you come back’, he said while walking further away from the water. Will he ever get over his fear? his wife wondered.

I’m scared, the old man thought, while staring at the sea in front of him. ‘Are you alright, Sir?’ a young man asked. ‘Oh- yes… actually, no, I am not’, the old man said with all honesty. ‘You seem afraid of the water, Sir. Can you not swim?’ the young man asked with a look of concern. ‘No, I can’t. All my life I have avoided the sea, even though I always wanted to know what it is like to feel weightless.’ ‘Well, Sir, I happen to be a swimming instructor. If you allow me, I would happily teach you how to swim.’ ‘Oh- I don’t know. That is very kind of you, young man, but- won’t I drown? My body is old and weak now.’ ‘You needn’t worry, Sir. I will hold you and shall not let go. You will never be able to drown under my supervision, I guarantee you that, Sir’, the young man said while stepping into the water, reaching out his arm to the old man. The old man felt uncertainty for a brief moment, but the young man’s sincere smile allowed him to take that leap of faith. He grabbed the young man’s hand and slowly dipped his toe in the water. ‘Oh, it is so cold!’ the old man exclaimed with delightful surprise. ‘Let us move into the water a bit further, and I promise you, Sir, the temperature will become pleasing to you’, the young man said, guiding the old man further into the water. When the old man was up until his chin in the water, he squeezed the young man’s hand and said: ‘Thank you for doing this, young man. No one has ever gotten me this far, but you have guided me as if I were a child and took me under your protective wing.’ The young man smiled at him. ‘Sometimes we need a different type of guidance than people tend to offer. I suppose no one has ever offered to hold your hand, Sir. Let me carry you deeper into the sea, if you allow it, Sir.’ The old man gave a nod and was held like an infant by the young man. ‘Now I know what it feels like to be weightless’, the old man said, smiling from top to toe, and continued, ‘my father, my past friends and my deceased wife all thought me a coward. You are the first man to offer me a hand, indeed, young man.’ The young man pondered on this for a moment, and said: ‘In my experience, humans often assume that one must overcome fear by themselves. If that is so, then why do instructors, like me, or counsellors exist? Mankind simply cannot do everything by themselves. We are not the independent species we believe ourselves to be. Sometimes we need guidance in overcoming fear, and it is completely acceptable if someone needs to hold our hand in the process and treat one as a child, Sir’, the young man said. The old man looked at the young man with wonder. ‘You are a very wise young man.’ The young man gave a friendly nod and suggested that the old man would try to swim, while holding onto his waist. The old man’s excitement was like that of a child, bewildered and overwhelmed by some new discovery. The young man slowly let the old man go and watched him move forward without his guidance. The old man then started to sink and looked at the young man with panic in his eyes. ‘Don’t worry, Sir, I got you’, the young man said, holding the old man like an infant again. ‘You did very well, Sir. For now, just lean onto me and eventually you will get there,’ he smiled.

I volunteered, "Takei.".

"Yeah," the Young Man said.

"How do we know him?" the Big Girl asked.

The Young Man responded, "Facebook."

Is that they only work really well when all the water funnels into them.

On days like today, where the heavy rain will not stop and the ground is completely saturated, the water seeps into my basement from all four sides.  Under normal conditions, the water pretty much does end up running into the sump pump, especially in the back, where a french drain leads to the sump pump along 3/4s of the back wall (though, life would be better if it went the whole way across the wall).

Today, though, I reviewed with the Big Girl and the Young Man how to vacuum up the puddles in the basement, how the shop vac indicates it is full, how to wheel it over to a sump pump, unscrew the cap, and let the water pour out (I'm no expert, but I'm guessing all the floating styrofoam in the pump buckets is bad :-), but that, my friends, is a task for another day).  They finished up (to the tune of 65 to 70 gallons) while I read with Young Pinocchio.