The waterfront
The little girl loved her younger brother immensely. So did the little guy. But when they were playing together, they didn’t get along very well. And, often, they wrangled. On many occasions, one of the parents had to intervene. The little guy had a knack for playing alone. This, again, irritated the little girl. She wanted him to be together with her. But the little guy often preferred playing on his own rather than playing together with his sister. So, the situation many times became quarrelsome. But the weekend was different. They remained occupied from the evening itself, packing their stuff in the suitcase of their size. The next day after breakfast, each of them hauled their suitcase inside the trunk, the storage of the car. Daddy finally closed the tailgate, and checked everything. Everybody was inside the car. Daddy, then, took the steering and drove. When he was driving them to a new destination, both had no time to quarrel. The reason was both remained busy watching the changing terrain from the car window. Upon reaching the destination, they remained immersed in exploring the new surroundings. In one such overnight stay on the waterfront, both the little girl and the little guy had a great time. They learned many new things about the waterfront, and from the nearby museum. Watching the unending water from the terrace of the log cabin, the little guy inquired with his mother, “how come so much water here all around, Mama?” Mama explained, “We are here in the bay. It joins the sea. That is where all the river water finally comes to. In the bay, we see water all round from the land we are standing on. She further said, “The bay is a huge body of water surrounded by land on all three sides but with an opening to the sea. A similar place is also called a gulf. However, there is a difference between the two. The gulf is bigger and deeper than the bay. In either case, we see land around with so much water around, as well toward the sea.” Then the little girl asked, ‘Mama, where does so much water come from? Mama said, “It’s the miracle of nature, my darling. We understand not all. Yes, the river water finally gets to the sea. The body of water that flows is a river. It emerges out to flow either from the waterfalls in the mountains or the marshy land where the underground water gets collected to flow. It is called headwater. Beyond that, a greater area of water collection is called watershed area. A river could also be coming out from a lake, which holds water like a huge water tank. Along its way, it gets many tributaries as well, increasing its body of water. A tributary is a river that merges with a bigger river. The end of a river is its mouth. What this means is when the river empties its water either to a big river, a lake, or a sea, it does so through its mouth. We empty our food from our plates through our mouths. So does the river while emptying its own water. Thus, the river ends when it empties. You have seen the big river whenever we drive to the big city from our home, haven’t you? The little guy was quick to answer, “Yes, Mama.” “That big river finally has drained all its water into this very bay where we are now. Here that river exists no more,” Mama said. The little girl asked another question, “What lies beyond the sea?” Then it became mother’s turn to be quick to answer, “Ocean. It is a greater area of water than the sea. And there are five such oceans on our Earth. This Earth is common to all where we all live together with animals, fishes, and insects in different geographical boundaries called countries. As the little guy was becoming more curious and was about to ask more questions, Mama told the kids so lovingly, “Look, Daddy is already back from his morning exploratory walk. Now it’s time for me to prepare breakfast. I will talk about the ocean next time.” The kids now clustered toward their Daddy with dazzling smiles. He hugged them together.
