Lara Reyes-Terry | Week 14 | PSA: Hydrate or Diedrate

 

It’s something you hear every day, and something I’m sure you’re tired of hearing: drink your water, drink your water, drink it

Drink it 

Drink it 

Drink or Die 

(Maybe that last part is just me). 


Especially if you’re one of my close friends, that's all I’ll say when it gets too hot and my water bottle’s empty and I’m sweating too much and the air suddenly has grain to it and it's stuck in between the pores in my skin and—


It’s not something you just forget. 


Dehydration. 


There’s a suddenness to it. 


I can almost see myself when I walk through that park again, the one behind American High. I’ll laugh a little whenever I see the kids playing, I still remember it. It’s a different kind of freedom you feel when you’re young, ungodly and undone are little kids. There were seven kids there when I passed by. 


It’s almost funny. 


There’s a weightlessness that hits you, and as you look up the sun gets right in your face but you can’t look away. For some reason it’s following your gaze and it’s shackled to your eyes—


And then it gets dark. 


And it stays dark. 


Then the ringing. 


Like a deep tuba sliding up to a prickling C6. 


Your eyes are still open but nothing’s there. The dark’s your new friend for however long you stay there, trapped behind your own eyes. You’ll cling to anything the world will give you in those moments, hunched over a trash can you can’t see, you can still hear people around you. 


You know they’re holding you but you can’t feel it. 


The ringing continues still.


You’re aware you’re throwing up but nothing’s coming out. 


The ringing stops this time, thank god. 


So keep chugging your water kids, unless you want to almost die over a trash can.

~~~

I’m not even gonna lie, this was written in really quickly,  but it's a true story. I experienced severe dehydration at the very park behind our school when I was seven!


Comments

  1. Tanisha MadhukarApril 8, 2026 at 5:20 PM

    Your blog made me realize that I have fainted due to severe dehydration, except I did not realize until now. I think it goes without saying that hydrating is important, and despite how refreshing water is I don’t drink it that often. It’s entirely because I forget, which is probably due to the fact I'm dehydrated. I don’t realize that I’m dehydrated until I sit down and, like you described, my head starts spinning.

    I liked your retelling of this memory. Even though it was something that most people are usually delirious for, your recollection was very vivid. Your transition from the kids you see play at the park now to when you played at the park reminds of how I think about my time in elementary school. I find that many of my extracurricular activities align with hanging out with kids. Even though I’m meant to be an authority figure in most of these situations it’s fun to go back to a time when my biggest worry was if I should wear a blue headband or a pink one.

    It’s weird to see how kids are so unaware of themselves. Like when kids, usually from ages 7 to 11, get hurt they won’t say anything. Sometimes they won’t even notice until someone else points it out. I’m unsure as to when they gain this realization but until then, every one of these interactions leave me in confusion as to how one is so unbothered by what’s happening.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alex FrancavillaApril 8, 2026 at 9:58 PM

    You never realize how lucky you are to have something when you’re suddenly thrust into a reality without it. And it seems like that “something” is often water. Recently, one of the filters in my house’s seven stage (yes, seven) water filtration system broke, and we were out of filtered water on tap for over a week. Throughout that time, I went through probably 20 disposable plastic water bottles, all the while longing for the freedom and minimal environmental impact of my refillable water bottle.

    At our recent Science Olympiad state tournament this past Saturday, my last event took place outside in midday in the sweltering heat of 82 degrees (don’t pretend like that isn’t unbearable for us privileged Fremonters). I brought two whole water bottles with me in case the event ran long, which definitely wouldn’t happen. I ran out of water an hour in, and had to suffer for the last 30 minutes—and, in extension, the rest of the day—without my sweet, sweet ambrosia.

    I would also like to add that your vivid recollection of how it felt to suffer from dehydration—particularly with the darkness, ringing, and unconsciously grabbing hold of the nearest object—sounds very similar to my own experiences with panic attacks or severe cases of Standing Up Too Quickly (or other times where blood doesn’t reach the head quick enough). I wonder if they’re perhaps related in some way?

    ReplyDelete

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