man in a bathtub

Bathtub

andrea vilar

Johnny  woke up, shivered, put on his robe over his sweats, got back got

back under the covers

and went to sleep. Two hours later, the alarm by the TV woke up a still

chilly Johnny Black.

Johnny turned on the shower and used the plug from the kitchen sink to fill

the bathtub up. He got in, turned

the water up till it was a little more than warm, then lay down under the

hot, pounding stream from

the shower head. The water always seemed to cool off by the time it hit the

tub -- maybe because of the

cool air in the room. Well, soon the room would warm up as it filled with

the hot water vapor pouring out

of the glass shower.

Johnny put his hands under his head and lay back all the way so the water

filled his ears. Now he heard

the shower hitting the water in the tub from underwater. Everything seemed a

lot quieter now. Johnny felt

tired and dizzy and glad to be motionless, resting, quiet. Everything felt

perfect. The water landing was still

a little warm, but the water filling the tub was the perfect temperature.

Johnny couldn't think how he could

be happier -- maybe if he didn't have to go to work in an hour, but right

now that seemed a long way off.

Johnny closed his eyes and rested peacefully, slipping in and out of a half

dream of floating through warm

liquid clouds.

Suddenly, Johnny felt very cold. Something was wrong. He was no longer

tired, but he couldn't tell why.

As he opened his eyes, he became aware of the fact that the temperature

around him was much cooler

than it had been a moment ago -- not cold, but not the perfect, dreamy bath

he had gotten used to. As

soon as he started to look around, his mind absorbed exactly what was wrong.

It had been hours since he

had closed his eyes. The bathtub had overflowed a long time ago and the

bathroom floor was flooded! The carpets were soggy, and the room had a

stuffy smell to it.

Somehow, Johnny felt in no hurry to do anything. It was clear that this had

gone on so long that a few

more minutes wouldn't hurt anything. John gazed up at the bathroom window, a

skylight he had built himself years ago.There it stood, miles above his

head. Johnny suspected it was about noon.  He could feel how pruned his

hands  were, with wrinkles all over.  He could hear scratching on the

outside of the glass. He must not have closed

the door to the bathroom all the way because now his cat was sitting on the

toilet, apparently trying to get

into the flooded tub. John had a vague thought about how cats weren't

supposed to like water as he

watched the blurry shape of the cat through the fogged up shower curtain,

then he closed his eyes again.

Now, it was definitely colder. Without even opening his eyes, Johnny could

see that it was now dark. No

light passed through his eyelids at all. He could feel the cool evening air

on his face, but for some reason

the bath water had gotten warmer.

Johnny had been hungry in his sleep, but now that feeling was beginning to

pass. He felt curious, as though

there was something he needed to think about, but he couldn't focus on what.

He felt exhausted, unable to

move or even open his eyes. He could hear the cat actually meowing from

somewhere outside the tub,

probably wanting to be fed, but there was nothing he could do for her.

He wondered how long the hot water would last. He wondered about the damage

to the carpeting in the

apartment. He wished he could see the sunshine through the skylight. He

thought back to his dream

about the clouds, and about how warm he had felt then, and how warm he felt

now, and how unhappy he

had been when he thought he had to go to work, and how relieved he was to

find out that he had been

able to avoid it, and how peaceful he felt right now. Then, slowly, without

opening his eyes, Johnny

suddenly became aware that he was floating through the clouds again.