Misc.

urinetown 5

he was five when the water fountain stopped working. 

every day, after school he would walk past it, stop for a minute and stare at the water spraying out of the trumpet held by the little cherub at the top of the statue. it all felt so big and imposing, and that feeling fascinated him. he'd go up to the fountain, grab a handful of coins out of the water, and throw them back into the fountain, making wishes with money that had already been used. he liked the sound they made, and the feeling of the copper in his little hand was cold, and smooth, and nice.

one day, it was dry. the coins were gone. 

he ran home crying to his mother. she held him in consolation, reassuring him they'd only temporarily stopped the fountain to collect the coins, and that it would be back to normal the next day. 

"look what i got you though." she said with a mischevious smile. barrel sniffled.

"what." he said, still weepy. his mother reached behind his ear and a chocolate coin wrapped in gold foil appeared magically in her hand. little barrel giggled through tears. his mother kissed his temple.

"all okay?" she asked softly. barrel nodded.

"all okay."

the next day, on his way home from school, the fountain was not, in fact, operational, and the only thing present was the very faint smell of urine, and the awful things that lay on the horizon. 

-

he was ten when his mother died. 

there had been no water for five years.

barrel went kicking and screaming. his mom lay in bed, emaciated and unresponsive, and a police officer he'd never seen before was pulling him out of the house. his father stood in the doorway, stoic and silent. they managed to pry barrel out of the front door and the boy did everything in his ten-year-old power to stop them. he hit at the officer, punching as hard as his little fists could, until they stuck his arms behind his back so hard that it hurt. 

then he started kicking. the world was blurry with tears. barrel kicked the officer in the shin and he felt himself be released. he fell on the ground, wiped his face and started backing up towards the house again. 

looking around, he saw his neighbors had come out to see what all the commotion was about. clinging to the porch steps, he made eye contact with the neighbors kid, harry. small and frail, younger than barrel by about two or three years, and born into a world where it cost an arm and a leg to buy a glass of water. barrel sniffled, and wished that they were sword fighting with sticks, and not whatever horrible thing was going on right now.

he snapped out of it when out of the blue, his father tore him off the stairs and held him so aggressively close their noses touched.

"get in the fucking car. stop whining. do as i say." his dad growled, dangerously soft. the tone was jarring and caught barrel off guard. his dad let him go and barrel stood silent for a moment. 

suddenly there was the sound of a slap, and barrel made contact with the ground again. there was a ringing in his ear, and his cheek began to sting. badly.

"i said, get in the car!" his father shouted at him, before hauling the child up again by the collar of his shirt. barrel flinched, and let himself be pushed towards the vehicle. it was black, and shiny, and big. he sat in the back seat and drew his knees up to his chin, watching his neighbor through tinted glass. 

next door, harry watched them leave. he'd never seen a car before. only rich people drove cars. he didn't understand what barrel was so upset about. the guy got to drive around in a cool, rich car, and he was crying about it? harry decided the world was a funny place. a funny place, with funny smells, and funny people.