November Writing Challenge Day 13

Water flowed

My house is old, as I have mentioned a few times. We frequently have plumbing problems, especially in the sinks. I think we’ve got everything all fixed up now, after many years of not having a working bathroom sink in the bedroom, and then several of not having one in the main bathroom. That means brushing your teeth in the shower and washing your hands in the kitchen sink. The first year I ever cooked a turkey for Thanksgiving, I had a bucket under the sink until we could get Johnny’s buddy Scott the plumber over. I would have cried if it would have helped. Thankfully Johnny is pretty handy and has fixed all the issues that have come our way. Even when he had to cut the backs of the cabinets out and taking a saws-all to my pink bathroom wall. But it’s a small price to pay, I assure you. 

I remember when we were dating and he was working over in North Carolina, the shower stopped up. I had done everything I knew to do (pouring a gallon of Drain-o in the vicinity of the drain and praying) and it was just at a standstill. I was bemoaning my troubles to him even though he couldn’t do anything. I could clearly visualize the tub rotting and falling through the floor into the basement and then how would I get clean? The creek was cold and I’m way too lazy too heat water on the stove and bathe in a stock tank for cattle. There’s this picture of a cowgirl in one of those, you know, long legs slung over the side, blonde hair cascading with a cowboy hat perched jauntily on top, boots parked at one end…

Yeah, I wouldn’t look anything like that. More like a Charolais heifer belly up from falling in.

But as I’m chatting with Johnny I hear this godawful gurgling and chug-chug-chug noise and after I collected my wits from the ceiling I figured out it had to be the tub so I poked my head around the corner and sure enough….

Water flowed.