Bear tilted his head back, lifted the lump of dung up high above him, and squeezed. Yellow water squirted out. It trickled over his fingers, poured over his face, and went into his mouth.

“Urghh!” Evie was horrified. She’d never seen anything more disgusting in her whole life.

Bear smacked his lips and pulled a face.

“You know, there’s a reason they don’t sell this in shops,” he winked.

“That’s Plan B?” Evie gasped. “Drinking water from elephant poo? I’d call that Plan Z!”

Bear chucked the lump away and wiped his fingers on the ground. Then he clapped his hands together.

“And now, Evie, it’s your turn.”

Evie felt the world spin around her.

“Can’t we get water from anywhere else?”

Bear smiled reassuringly. “This is an emergency. We’re survivors, and survivors have to take what they’re given. Water is life, and not having it is death. So until we find more fresh water, we’re stuck with what’s in the bottle, and what nature sends us. I didn’t really like drinking elephant poo, but I know that my body needs the water right now.”

Evie had never felt so thirsty. She knew she was getting desperate, and that not having enough water was serious.

Reluctantly, Evie reached down and broke off a small lump of elephant dung.

She tilted her head back. She lifted the poo above her. She shivered. She closed her eyes. She told herself that she was about to take a drink of lovely, cool, clean water. And then she squeezed.

In her hand, the poo felt like a lump of damp, crumbly mud. There was a little resistance, and she could feel the water coming out.

Bleuch!

Evie forced herself to keep her mouth open and her hand up high as the water trickled into her mouth.

It was disgusting.

Eventually, when there was no more water coming out of the poo, she threw the lump away. She dried her face on her sleeve and then wiped her hands on the ground like Bear had.

He was grinning at her with a smile as wide as the savannah.

“That’s only for emergencies, right?” she panted. “Like when the nearest tap is a hundred miles away?”

“Only for emergencies,” Bear nodded. “I’m proud of you, Evie. It takes courage to overcome our fears. But you were brilliant, and now we’re both set up until the next water break. But we’ll take some with us just in case. Survivors need to take what’s offered and be prepared.”

Bear squeezed some more of the elephant poo water into the flask, and put some older, drier pieces of dung in his pack. As they pushed on towards the distant mountain, Evie hoped that there would be no more water emergencies.