The sun shone upon a small patch of tilled earth, baking it to a crisp.

Marigolds blossoming around the edges wilted and drooped. An old woman stood

with her left hand on her hip and squinted at the garden through one eye.

"That garden ain't gonna grow."

She turned a two-inch square, cardboard box around and peered at the label on

the front.

"Instant water..." She tossed a dirty look over her shoulder at a bungalow and

wrinkled her nose. "Stupid late night T.V. shows...sellin' mah husband all

sorts 'a rubbish!"

She gave her attention back to the box and tried to make out the directions on

the back.

"Jest add water..." She raised an eyebrow at the box and snorted. "Yeah,

instant water all right. 'Fool an' his money be parted!"

She ripped the shrink wrap from the box, tore off the top and peered inside. A

fine white, glistening powder filled the box almost all the way to the top.

"Looks like sugar..." She turned the box upside down and poured its contents

into the grass next to the garden and tossed the container away.

"Idiot husband. Gotta fall fer every scam that comes along!"

She hobbled toward the house, leaving a pile of glittering white crystals

behind.

The sun continued shine, oblivious of her disgruntled unhappiness. Its rays

drew moisture from the grass. Water vapor, rising into the air, interacted

with the crystals and they began to vibrate. A rumbling began, rising in a

rapid crescendo and a monstrous tsunami erupted into existence, washing away

everything in a fifty mile radius.

A small cardboard box washed up onto the edge of the devastation and lay

drying in the sun, its waterlogged type visible for any survivors to read.

'Instant water,' the label read. 'Just add water. Caution. Contains enough for

one medium lake. Handle with care.'