The Rain Came at 2:50am: A Children's Story

Last night, Lightning woke his brother Thunder by flashing the lights in his room repeatedly.

"Come play with me!" he cried, bouncing with barely contained energy.

Thunder mumbled and grumbled as he rolled over and covered his head with the pillow. "I don't wanna play" he replied, "I was having such a nice dream, and you wrecked it. Now GO AWAY!"

Lightning, like most little brothers, continued to pester Thunder until he was wide awake. Soon they were chasing each other across the sky, thoroughly enjoying their sport.

Their older brothers, Wind and Rain, were discussing the weather patterns in outer Mongolia planned for the summer of 2015 when Lightning found them.

"Come play with me!" he giggled, as Thunder came barreling around the corner.

Wind looked down his nose at the exuberant youth. "I don't want to play." he said, "There are much more important things to think about, you know." With that, he turned and left. No doubt he expected Rain to follow, but Lightning and Thunder held him back.

"You'll play with us, won't you Rain?" begged Lightning.

"I don't know, guys. You are always picking on me for being too soft. You don't like to play nice." answered Rain

"Aww, come on! We promise to play nice this time" rumbled Thunder. "We'll even let you pick the game."

Rain agreed that, perhaps, it might be fun to play for a while. After all, the weather in outer Mongolia was so dull, and 2015 was a long way away. There was plenty of time to iron out any wrinkles in that plan. And so the three brothers spent a very enjoyable night playing together in the sky.

And below, we had the best of all worlds. Soaking, life giving rain that caressed the leaves instead of pounding them. Breathtaking lightning that lit up the sky and burned the eyes. Long, rolling thunder that rattled the chest and could be felt through bare feet firmly planted in the muddy grass.

I wonder what game they played?