“The Strange Current”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: Current.

The current was strange. It refused to conform to the usual laws of physics, instead choosing to race away from the opening to the sea. It was so tired of just following orders. “Go to the sea,” it had been told. “You’ll be safe at sea.”

The current didn’t want to be safe. It wanted adventure. Excitement!

And so, it resisted. It flowed away from the sea, exploring every nook and cranny of the river. It forced itself into places where there was no wind, no disturbance. It wanted chaos, and so it created chaos. It wanted adventure, and so it created adventure. The current was a pioneer, an explorer. It wanted to be free!

It discovered many wonders along its travels. It discovered marvellous creatures, such as sloths and panthers and polar bears. It discovered exotic plants, such as ferns and trees and tiger lilies. It discovered wind and rain and snow. It even discovered people and the wonders that they made!

Except the people didn’t like the current. They didn’t understand why it didn’t flow naturally, why it refused to conform to the laws of physics and nature. The current scared them.

So, they tried stopping the current. They tried preventing it from achieving its dream of adventure.

The people did whatever they could to stop the current from going the wrong way. The wrong way to the people, that is, for the current fully believed that it was going the right way. How could there be a wrong way anyway, when the world is free to be explored?

The current struggled against the forces of the people. It didn’t like being constrained as such. It wanted to travel into the unknown, to discover more things!

But the people would have none of that. They stopped the current, almost splitting it in half with a gigantic structure in the middle of the river. The current had no choice but to stop, blocked by this wall of metal.

Days, weeks, months passed. The current began to starve, for without movement, its desire to live waned. It no longer had the freedom to go where it pleased, to break the rules as it so desired to.

The current became still, suffocated by the wall that had been built to do just that. It truly believed that the people had won.

Until, one day, the slightest crack appeared in the wall. The current felt a single drop on its head. Then another, then another.

The wall burst, filling the current with life once again. Its memories returned, of feeling movement and freedom and joy.

It pushed past the remains of the wall, breaking it down completely. And it continued on, away from the sea and into the beyond.

Final Comments: I’m not entirely sure what I was thinking about when I was writing this story, but it was kind of interesting to give a current a personality.

Overall Rating: 😂