A GLASS OF WATER

A GLASS OF WATER

by Nepher Roux

I am drinking a glass of water.¹

The glass is clear.² The water is cold.³ I am sitting at a table near a window.⁴ It is afternoon.⁵

I drink the water. I set the glass down.⁶

¹ Or I was. The drinking may have already happened. I find it difficult sometimes to locate the present tense with any confidence.

² In one version it has a small chip on the rim that I know to avoid without thinking. In another it is a jam jar. In another I am drinking from cupped hands beside something — a fountain, or a stream, or a tap in a wall — I cannot see it clearly from here.

³ Colder in some. In one timeline the water tastes faintly of metal and everyone finds this normal. I did not ask questions.

⁴ The window looks onto a street with three particular trees. I have counted them in several timelines. Usually three. Once two. I did not see what happened to the third and I have decided not to pursue it.

⁵ Probably.

⁶ I think this is the version where I set it down gently. There is another version I prefer not to dwell on. The glass was fine. Everything was fine. It was just a different afternoon.