Virtual Water- short story

The alarm clock woke Polly up for the day. She stayed still miserably on the bed, and after a few minutes of self motivation, dragged herself to the washroom. Standing in front of the sink and beadily rubbing her eyes, she grabbed the electrodes hanging from the wall and attached them to her scalp. As they stimulated the feeling of washing in her brain, she took a tube of facial cleaning enzyme- the cheapest she could find- and rubbed her face clean, letting the scrub absorb in to the skin and blend in.

It was the start of the week, and Water Day wasn't till Wednesday for their apartment block; from thrice a week it was now once a week, when the water ration department would deliver each household's share of water, just barely enough to wash clothes and take a proper bath instead of a simulated one using enzyme solutions.

Polly chose her clothes for the day by sniffing at them to see which ones were the cleanest and pilling on perfume.

She boiled herself an egg in the oven and poured a glass of 'healthier than desalinated water!' milk for her breakfast, managing to somehow finish all of the dry, bland meal before deciding to leave the house.

She was going down the street to the supermarket, clutching her bag and wiping the sweat off her brow. The few trees that used to line the sidewalk when she first moved had browned and withered; there was no water to give them Increased desalination plants had ruined the climate, and it hadn't rained a single drop in years. The sweltering sun made her thankful even for the air conditioned but horribly smelling supermarket.

The TV near the reception was showing a news channel while a few shoppers wandered aimlessly in aisles displaying powdered packets and cans of dehydrated versions of fruits and vegetables, proudly claiming: '100% of all water acquired from this product is donated to the government.' As opposed to being used to feed the company owner's families, she thought wryly.

'Water is now more expensive than gold,' an analyst on the TV was saying. 'Its official: yesterday the stock points for water rose higher than one of the most expensive things you can buy.'

On of the shop workers changed channels and the next one was playing a clip from the prime minister's speech urgent 3 am speech from twitter:
'Our researchers are hard at work trying to find a solvent other than water that is safe to use on human bodies. Meanwhile we are improving water filtration to address concerns for drinking water and urge the public to prioritize their rations for drinking.' 

The screen flashed away to show a tweet that said: 'This means they're going to reduce rations again.' and panned back to the host who launched into analysing the situation.

This cemented Polly's decision. She marched to the water bottle isle defiantly and swiped her card at the counter. Hurriedly opening the cap she chugged it down right there, in front of everybody, who, like her, hadn't had a sip of water for probably 2 days now.

This one bottle cost her most of her life savings, but she didn't care. She had lost her job as a vet at the local zoo when the government decided they couldn't waste water supplies on non-livestock animals anymore. Her last act had been to euthanize few of the last remaining species of big cats. With many places being shut down for similar reasons, no one could find a job these days.

Wiping her chin, the bottle now empty, she felt a relief she hadn't felt in long time. She smiled back at the people staring at her show. She didn't care, not anymore.When the water ran out completely, so would every living thing.  It was foolish to cling to life so desperately, in her opinion. There was no hope of fixing the water crisis. No hope of surviving.

No hope, none at all.