Water Fountain of Hope.

(People of color are awesome. Plenty of people probably attempted this and *spoilers* got arrested. . Unfortunately, this is historical fiction. Please take this into consideration when you read this.)

1964, Alabama.

George is a good man. George is walking to work. George only walks whenever it is fantastic weather. The weather is nice. In all consideration, It's Alabama. There is always relatively nice weather. Except when it's summer or muggy out. Then it's the worst. But today, George thought the weather to be especially nice. So nice he could walk to his job at the corner of Deer Lane and Frikle Avenue. George walked past many things on his way to work. A bakery, grocery store, drug store.

He stopped by the bakery to buy a bun. He liked eating buns at his desk before everyone was around. George has a job as a bank teller. He was very good with money and math, even from a young age. He had a small family of two children and one on the way. His wives' name was Franny, and his eldest child's name was Harold. His youngest at the moment was Henry. His eldest was five and his current youngest was three. He was proud of his family and their many blessings.

On his way to work, he stopped by the regular water fountain. It was very dry sunny weather, and he wanted a drink. However, George was very upset when he saw that the fountain he had to drink from was the colored one. A white man on his way to work looked at him disgusted before going about his own way. George knew that the white only was much nicer. But he knew that he had to use the colored ones. Otherwise, he would be put in jail. He couldn't do that to his loving family.

He got his little sips of water and went about his day to work. He had a very boring meeting. He made two phone calls and filed some paperwork. He copied some documents and decided to go to the lunch counter a few blocks down for lunch. But when he got to it, they turned him away. A white-only lunch counter. He was obviously in dismay about the matter, as only Friday had he gone to the same exact lunch counter and it was an integrated counter. He was told this was going to be for a while now.

Apparently, according to the worker, the manager had this date in his mind for three months now. Henry left the lunch counter and went to the bakery, where he got a bagel. He ate it very slowly on a park bench, and then headed back to his desk. It was a black-only bank, and it wasn't nearly as nice as the white-only one. But it was the best black person one around. Henry forgot about the counter after having a very lovely afternoon of work. He headed home, kissed his wife on the cheek and his two boys on their heads. They had dinner and George cleaned the table.

While he was cleaning the table, George was reminded of the counter. He told his wife about the counter on Frikle Avenue. He told his wife what he recollected of what the worker had told him about the counter's new rules. His wife sighed a heavy sigh and then said in an upset tone, "I am sorry George. This is the way things are now due to those terrible Jim Crow Laws. I'm sure in no time flat things will change. We will integrate again soon I hope." She sighs once more and then says, "See you later. I'm going to bed." She kisses his cheek and goes up.

He stopped by his two boys' rooms before he showered. They asked their father to read them a book. George did so and put them to bed. He then went, took a shower, and went to bed. He slept with a bit of a snore. His wife woke twice, once to his snoring, the next for the bathroom. George helped his wife out of bed and then they slept well for the rest of the night. It was the break of dawn too early for the family. George thought it was another glorious day. He walked his two children around the block and then put his eldest at the bus stop. Then he walked to work.

On his way, George found that there were more white-only shops than he remembered. He realized he never cared to look, until the day before. A few weeks later, George's favorite bakery was white only, and the bus his eldest rode to school was segregated. The nice school his son went to, was now a terrible one for black children only. George realized that the water fountain he used to stop at was the only one in town. The white ones were much nicer and you could find them all over.

In the fall, when the baby, Henrietta, had been born, he decided to stand up. He started protesting. He only walked and stood up for what he believed in. One day, there was a knock on his door. It was a white police officer. He took George and arrested him, uncharged. Unfortunately, the family had no room for spare change or bail money. Every meal he got he would remind the people why he was there.

Years passed and by the end of the civil rights movement, he was allowed to get out. He saw his family and was so happy to see them. Jim Crow laws were abolished and he was so happy that he got to be free. He was proud of his family and loved his family very much. George's family was still happy. He still walks to his work on nice days and rides the bus on others. He goes to the counter for lunch and buys a bun from his bakery for breakfast. He works at the bank. George walks to work. George was a good man.