The Adventures of the Drip Drop Family

It was a bright and sunny August day when our adventure really began. Nothing seemed to be that unusual way down in the Florida Keys. A gentle breeze was blowing, but it was your typical 80-degree day. Way down Route 1, about 23 miles from Key West, was a smaller key named Cudjoe. Off the Key of Cudjoe, not far from its Atlantic shore, lay a very tiny island. Under this island, in a coral cave, lived a small village of water droplets. Yes, that's what I said, water droplets. You see water is made up of billions of water droplets all living close together. In this cave there was a village called Puncha. About a thousand families of droplets made up this small town. The cave was made such that the droplets rarely ever left. The shallow cave was isolated from any sunlight. It was small, damp and dark. The droplets would lay on top of the ocean floor. Sometimes they would evaporate and cling to the top of the cave. But usually they didn't hold on too long and they'd drop back down with the crowd. Occasionally, when the ocean was rough, it would make small waves in the village and several droplets would splash onto the walls. But it wouldn't be long before their fun was over and they'd go back to the middle of town. Well this was typically how the village of Puncha spent its day. Everyone was very close and knew everyone else. One of the most popular families in town was the Drip Drop family. Drip was the father of the family. He was known in the village for his keen mind. If there was ever a problem in the town, the other droplets would always come to Drip. He was married to the loveliest droplet of all, Tear Drop. She had extraordinary beauty, by droplets standards anyway. They had three adorable children; Sun Drop, their son, who was twelve, Rain Drop, their daughter, who was eight, and their baby boy, Dew Drop, who was five last March. As stated before, this was a pretty ordinary, August day. The ocean was a little choppy, so the Drop family decided to go to the walls for some fun. Grandpa Plop Drop and Grandma Gum Drop had gone along with them. They had been there all morning when Drip felt it was time to go home. Little did he know how much he would regret this decision later. But, at that moment there was no sense of impending danger. Drip had noticed however, there were a lot of families on the walls and the ocean had grown quite rough. His instinct should have told him to keep his family on the walls where it was safe. But he was tired and wanted to go home for an afternoon nap. By the time they had arrived home the sea began to get treacherous outside the cave. This began to make a suction tunnel inside the middle of the village. All of a sudden, a great tidal wave smashed into the cave. That caused a huge whirlpool to hit the town. It grabbed several families and quickly sucked them right out of their homes. They whirled around and were pulled under the wall of the cave. They knew they were outside the protection of their small village and flowing towards the dangerous deep ocean. Among these water droplets was the Drip Drop family. Fear gripped the community. Defenseless against the current, everyone knew they were at the mercy of the pull of the ocean. Foremost on Drip's mind was how he would keep his family together. "Everyone hold on tight to each other." Drip shouted. "We need to stay together." "I'm frightened daddy!" stated Dew Drop. "Don't worry son. As long as we hold on to each other, we'll be okay. Think of this as the biggest adventure of your life." While Drip was trying to calm down his son's fears, he knew all too well what kind of danger his family was in. There were perils in the ocean deep he knew nothing about. And what's more, the family was headed right for them. Holding on tight to each other, Drip knew they had a rough ride ahead. The current was pulling them away from the shore of Florida and out towards Cuba. They were riding on the top of the waves when suddenly an undertow pulled the family down in the water. "Just hold on tight." said Drip. "This might be our best bet!" As they were sinking, Sun Drop noticed a terrifying-looking fish swimming in their direction. He had never seen a fish before and this one was fascinating. It had a threatening look as if it were about to attack. "Dad, what kind of fish is that?" inquired Sun Drop. Drip turned around quickly just in time to see the enormous barracuda swallow his whole family. Flowing down towards the barracuda's gills, Drip knew he was in danger of losing his entire family. Once separated he couldn't imagine how he would ever find them again. Although water droplets never really die, they only change form through the water cycle, Drip could think of no worse a fate then to be separated from the family he loved.