It was last summer. My housemate and I were committed to a short jogging ritual. Every evening, after work, we would go out for a quick run in the neighbourhood.
There were many days when we only managed to jog around our block. But a few times, we felt adventurous and tried out a longer route, which was usually a sequence of random choices of turns. We liked the new discoveries in the familiar neighbourhood and the sense of adventure this experience brought to us.
One hot afternoon, we were jogging under the blazing sun, zigzagging the neighbourhood and pleasantly getting lost on the way. For some time, we enjoyed the sceneries and some insightful conversation about life as our legs powerfully carried us forward in the unexpected journey.
Then we started to feel hot and thirsty. By that time, we had very little idea where we were in our neighbourhood. I felt irritated that we still had to find our way back home through this heat without drinking water.
Water, water, water. I was repeating in my head when my housemate suddenly started to run away from the road. “Where are you going?” I gasped. She didn’t reply, and continued running.
The next thing I saw, she was standing in somebody’s garden, enjoying the blissful shower from a huge sprinkler. With her arms raised high in a victory pose and her eyes closed, she called me. “Come! It’s so good!”
I hesitated. Though I may have been brave in many ways, I was extremely timid when it came to breaking rules. And there was a rule in my head that said I was not supposed to go into somebody’s garden without a permission. But now, under this blazing sun, with this thirst, in the presence of my housemate’s pure confidence, I finally gave in to my heart’s desire.
I joined her in the shower. The moment I stood under the water, all my anxiety flew away. The water was blissful. I screamed with joy.
After some time, my housemate went back to the curb, asking me to come out. When I didn’t, she finally had to pull me out of the sprinkler shower.
That was a magical shower. My heart flew like a bird as we skipped back home that day.