The East Market fountain began bubbling unusually this morning. Engineers traced the problem to air entering a nearby water line during maintenance. The water remains safe for normal fountain purposes. Several children immediately declared that the fountain was “making soup.” It was not. One child added a leaf. The leaf was removed.
The soup theory gained support when the bubbling became stronger near a floating leaf, although engineers pointed out that the leaf had been added by one of the children specifically to improve the theory. This distinction did not damage the theory’s popularity. A vegetable seller offered an onion “to help.”
The onion was refused. City Engineering has clarified that bubbling water does not become soup simply because vegetables are nearby. The fountain returned to normal after twenty minutes. The children remain unconvinced. One has asked whether tomorrow’s fountain could be porridge. No engineering work is currently scheduled for porridge.
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