Water's Journey
Rotary Club Mullingar Young Writer Competition
Winning entry, by Lisa Smyth, St Colman's NS
Uisce was a water droplet who lived underground. One day Uisce felt a sudden movement; she began to bubble up. She was swept away by a river. She looked around and saw many of her water droplet friends crying. They were lost too!
When Uisce looked down she saw a small orange creature that she had never seen before. Uisce shouted down to the small creature “Who are you”? He replied that he was a fish and his name was Jimmy. She waved goodbye to Jimmy. The river was gathering pace.
The river became wider as it met the sea. All of a sudden, Uisce was lifted up by a wave. She heard a funny sound behind her and saw a long creature with a bottle nose and a wide smile. “Who are you?” she asked the creature. The dolphin said her name was Pearl, and she asked Uisce if she would like to play.
Uisce played with Pearl all day long. Pearl carried Uisce on her back as she jumped out of the water. Soon it was time for Pearl to go. Uisce waved goodbye. She would miss Pearl. Uisce floated up to the surface. She felt warm and as she looked up to the sky, she began to rise. Up and up she went, until she was looking down on a big blue sea. She was surprised to meet other droplets in the sky. “Where am I?” she asked. “You’re in a cloud”! said a kind droplet.
A strong gust of wind carried the cloud a long distance. Uisce looked out and saw a strange-feathered creature flying through the cloud. “Who are you?”, Uisce asked. “I’m a bird. Can’t stop, must be in Africa by noon.” Uisce waved goodbye to the friendly bird.
The wind became colder and Uisce shivered. She began to fall and then float. What was happening? She was changing shape! She looked around and saw lots of elegant white flakes. “We’re snowflakes”! yelled a happy droplet.
Uisce danced in the wind and landed softly on a mountainside beside other snowflakes. She gasped when she looked around and saw that there were so many snowflakes that the mountain was white. After a long time on the mountainside, a thaw came. She woke up one morning and saw the sun. She felt warmer and began to change shape. She was droplet again!
She joined a stream of other droplets and they soon came to a gigantic waterfall. “Yippee,” they yelled as they hurtled down together into the frothy water below. Uisce soon felt the pull of a fast flowing river leaving the lake. Even though she loved the beauty of the mountains and lake, she knew it was time to go. As she twirled and swirled downstream, she said hello to a white swan with a long neck, a chubby green frog with webbed feet, and fluffy yellow ducklings following their mam.
Uisce journeyed on to the sea. It was summer and the sun shone high in the sky. She felt warm again and began to float upwards, where she joined a fluffy cloud.
After a few days bobbing around in the sky, she spotted a small pond surrounded by colourful flowers and trees. “It’s been the journey of a lifetime,” said the little water droplet, “and now I fancy a rest.”
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https://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/2025/05/22/walks-and-waves/