The Girl of Many Floods- Linh Song

VII

"Wha...what happened? Why is our bedroom flooded?" Linh inquired.

Tan tugged on his bangs. "I don't know, I woke up and was going to go to the bathroom but then I stepped down to find this," he gestured at the floor.

Linh was baffled. She had no clue how the water had gotten there. Could it be the plumbing? She decided to ask Tam about it.

Tam shrugged," I honestly don't think so, this never happened before, and this water is a little too much just for a leaky tap."

Linh bit her lip. "Have you opened the bathroom door yet?"

"No, I was halfway there before I noticed the water," Tam then waded to the bathroom door and opened it, switching on the light at the same time.

Inside, it was also flooded in the same ankle-deep water as the room. The water appeared to be dripping from the shower head and the tap, but both of them were switched off.

Tam frowned, "there shouldn't be leakage, our taps our designed so that there wouldn't be any."

Linh hugged her knees. "Weird. We'll figure that out later. How about checking the hallway?"

"Okay, but I see what you're up to," Tam grunted unhappily, "making me walk through the water while you sit there and watch."

Linh shrugged. "Well, I mean you were already in the water so...No need for me to get wet as well."

Tam scowled as he opened the room door. Outside, it was also flooded in ankle-deep water.

Tam trudged back to Linh's bedside. "So what do you want to do now?"

"Well I guess we tell mom and dad."

"In the middle of the night?"

"Well I guess so, I mean our house is flooded."

"Fine," Tam grudgingly agreed, then he smirked, "well, now you have to stand in the water too."

"Oh." Linh had momentarily forgotten about that. "Uhh...let's tell mom and-"

"Agh! Tam!" Linh glared at him as he pulled her into the water and she landed with a splash. She ended up sitting on the ground which meant the back of her tunic was soaked. She shot a resentful look at him, then splashed water in his face.

Tam wiped his face, rolling his eyes. "Oh please, it's just water," he said, offering her a hand.

Linh took it and he pulled her up.

"Shall we?" Tam asked, gesturing towards the door. Together, they carefully made their way through the water and to their parents' room.

When they reached, they found themselves standing in another flooded hallway. Tam knocked on the door.

It took a while for her father to open the door. After hearing a series of groans and a considerable amount of swearing, a very irritated looking Quan Song opened the door.

Linh's father was dressed in a beige-coloured robe, matched with a pair of black trousers. His usually neatly combed hair was messy, his left eyebrow twitched and his mouth was clammed shut as if he were resisting the urge to shout at the twins.

The fact that he too, was standing in ankle-deep water probably did not improve his mood.

"What is it?" he asked, rather impatiently.

Tam spoke first, "well, practically our whole house is flooded so we thought we'd tell you."

Her father looked at them, annoyed, but before he could answer, Linh's mother woke up.

"Quan?" she called. Then she noticed Tam and Linh and the flooded room. "Wh...what's going on?"

"It's nothing dear, please go back to sleep," her father said soothingly.

Mai frowned, and got up instead. Once she had waded into the light of the hallway, Linh could see her ebony hair, flushed pink cheeks and her flowery robe.

Quan updated her mother on the situation and Linh told her about the leaking taps in her room.

"In that case, I'd better take a look. I don't want our house even more flooded than it is now," Quan said as he lead the way to the twins' room.

Once the Songs had reached Tam and Linh's bedroom, Quan went to check the tap. He came back a few minutes later, eyebrows raised.

"The taps aren't leaking. I checked the taps and they appear to be able to turn on and off just fine." He turned to look at Tam and Linh, "Are you sure the taps were leaking?"

"Very sure," Tam replied.

Quan raised an eyebrow, "This isn't some joke you guys are playing?"

Tam opened his mouth to retort, however the 'humming' from the previous day had suddenly started again, and it drowned out Tam's voice. The surroundings became a distant drone in the background.

The hum was louder this time. Linh could be sure of that. She could feel her senses being overloaded. And the weird thing was, she could feel the water surrounding her as well, each molecule of water seemed to be calling to her. Somewhere deep in her heart, she knew she should be resisting it, but the more she tried to resist, the more the water called. Then she could not hold it any longer, and she gave in to the water.

Without warning, a high-pitched squeak broke out and she heard her name being shouted. Someone grabbed her shoulders and shook her vigorously, and Linh came to her senses.

She took a deep breath and looked around, the water level had risen to her knees and the rush of water coming from the bathroom seemed to quieten, as if the water had stopped flowing.

Linh looked at her parents, then at Tam. Their expressions were in varying stages of shock, surprise and concern.

"Wh....what happened?" she asked.

Tam looked at her parents, then back at Linh. His voice was full of concern as he spoke, "Well, you kind of went into a trance. Then you screamed and the water started flowing out of the taps at maximum capacity and well yea that's about it....Are you okay?"

Linh had started shaking, and she nearly fell but Tam caught her. With the help of her mother, he lead her to her bed and sat her down.

Linh looked up to her parents. "But what does this mean?" she asked, though she could already guess the answer.

"Well, you manifested- as a hydrokinetic."