The Bottle

There was a man lost in the desert, destined to die of thirst. Luckily, he arrived at a crumbling old cottage. No windows. No roof.

He walked around and found a small shadow where sat down protected from the heat and the sun of the desert. Looking around, he saw an old water pump. It was completely rust. He crawled toward it, took the handle and began pumping without stopping, but nothing happened. Disappointed, he wiped his wet forehead with his hand and lay on his back. His arms lay limply on the floor at his sides. Then he noticed that there was a bottle by his side. He picked it up and read the label: "You first need to prepare the bomb with all the water that it contains, then, please have the courtesy to fill it again before you leave."

The man took the lid off the bottle and saw that it was full of water.

"I could drink this water, and I might survive. But I could fill the pump. Maybe I'd get fresh and cold water from the bottom of the pit, and I could take all the water that I want. What should I do?" He thought.

In the end, he emptied all the water into the pump, grabbed the handle and began pumping. The pump started to grind, but nothing happened.

He was breathing hard with his eyes locked on the pump, a sad expression on his face. The pump continued whining. And then suddenly a little flow started to pour. The water ran with abundance, fresh and clear water.

With a startled expression on his face, he filled the bottle and drank anxiously. Immediately after, he filled it up to the next traveller, took the note and added another phrase: "Trust me it works, you have to give all the water before you get it back."

A few times in life, we have excellent opportunities that we can help us to be a better person. But perhaps we are afraid. We pull back ourselves because our insecurity paralyzes us. And if we overcome our fears, we could take everything that we want.