In 1997 Mary Schmich wrote a column called "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" for the Chicago Tribune. It was so popular it was set to music and became a hit video in 1999 by director Baz Luhrmann and went on to hit 45 on Billboards Top 100. There is a line in the column that says "Do one thing every day that scares you." Putting anything I create out there in the public scares the the heck out of me.

So today I do something scary. I am putting my short story on the OS. Remeber, I am not an author but feel free to dispense critical analysis. And I apologize, I tried to make it as short as possible and yet it still turned out too long but if I shave out any more details I don't know if it will make any sense. So here it is, the scariest thing I will do all day.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tom stared out the window at Main Street. The only thing stirring were clouds of dust kicked up the midday breeze. Two months of drought and there was no relief in site.

The Sunrise Café was full since the local farmers had no better place to go. As the noon news came on the entire room fell silent, waiting, hoping. The weatherman announced the bad news, at least another week of above average tempatures and no rain in the forecast. The persistent feeling of dread and despair returned to the room.

"If it don’t rain by next week I’m done for" one of the crowd said. But there was no sympathy, everyone was in the same boat. "You know what they are going to do, they are going to swoop in like vultures, kick me off my land and sell it to one of them corporate farm groups. Where am I going to go, what am I going to do now?" Nobody had an answer.

The last hope had come a week earlier in the form of dark clouds on the horizon. As they waited for the miracle from heaven they were sadly disappointed as the storm only produced wind and lightning. They still considered themselves lucky, a strike in Johnson county has sparked a wildfire, spreading through the withered crops and engulfing two homes. The families were out on the street with nothing but the clothes on their backs. The locals knew their situation could be a lot worse.

The bell over the door rang and everyone turned to stare at the stranger who had entered the cafe. He was dusty, his hair was too long and he had the look of a drifter. "Good afternoon", he said to the crowd of suspicions eyes. Nobody replied. He walked over to the counter and sat at the only empty stool.

"What do you want" Liz asked the newcomer. She probably didn’t mean to sound so gruff but once the farms were gone the diner wasn’t far behind and that meant she was going to have to move to her daughter’s in Wichita, and that son in law. She dreaded what that was going to be like.

"How about a glass of water, it’s a hot one today". Replied the stranger. Everyone glared, a feeling of anger rippled through the room.

"Waters for paying customers only" Liz replied, this time she meant to sound gruff.

"Oh I’ll also take one of those grilled cheese sandwiches." The stranger replied, "But no pickles or tomatoes please".

"And you can pay?" Liz said, she had seen one too many of the Earths wanderers who thought they could live off the benevolence of strangers.

"Sure" the stranger replied pulling a couple of crumpled bills from his pocket and dropped them on the counter. He flashed a friendly smile at Liz. She turned and headed to the kitchen.

As he waited he tried to make small talk with the rest of the diner patrons. "Hot day" he said to anyone listening.

"Hurmph" was the only response he got.

"Sure looks like you folks could use some rain" the stranger said. Liz dropped his plate spilling chips on the counter and this time she meant it to be a rude gesture.

"Thanks" he said.

"Well", replied one of the farmers, "if you got some rain your looking to part with we won’t mind sharing"

The rest of the room laughed in a sarcastic tone.

Chuckling the stranger said "I don’t have any on me, but I could make it rain if you would like", he took a bite of his sandwich, "mmm good cheese" he said to Liz, who had started drifting towards the phone in case any trouble started.

"Scrrretch", Ted, having ignored the majority of the conversation intentionally grated his chair around to face the stranger. "You know how to make it rain eh?" he asked.

"Yep" the stranger took a short drink and another bite.

"And how long will it take for this rain?"

"Well," wiping his mouth, "It only take me about a half hour to do my thing, but the rain takes three days."

"Son, my parents survived the dust bowl days, and many a huckster and holy man rolled through the parts promising rain."

"I’m guessing they lied" the stranger said.

Liz began to wipe the wall right next to the phone, just in case she had to make a quick call to the sheriff.

"That’s right boy, and now you say you can make the rain in three days?"

"Yes sir" the stranger said as he finished off his sandwich.

"And I am guessing you want us to pay you for this service, of course come three days you will be gone along with our money and there will be no rain."

Everyone nodded in agreement with Ted’s comment..

"Oh I couldn’t take your money, heck it’s no work for me."

"So let me get this straight, your gonna make it rain, and in three days, and it’s not going to cost us anything?" Ted asked.

"Yep" the stranger replied.

"And what are you going to need to perform this miracle? Gold, maybe precious stones, perhaps a few vestal virgins?"

Everyone chuckled at the comment.

"Not really" the stranger said laughing along with the crowd, "just an old tree."

"Sorry boy", one of the locals said "but we’re under a fire watch." The whole diner cracked up.

"Oh, I’m not going to burn it, just need to be near it." The stranger replied

Ted had enough, he got up from his chair and said "Let’s go" and walked towards the door.

Lis put her hand on the receiver. She had never seen Ted get into a fight but she wasn’t going to take any chances.

Once outside Ted said "Get in" pointing at his old truck.

"Where are we going" the stranger asked.

"To a tree of course."

Ted knew exactly where he wanted to go. The old oak stood off by itself on a small hill just south of town. The local kids liked to hang out under it on Saturday night and the church crowd held their picnics on Sunday morning.. It was also where Tom had taken Sarah on that special day where he asked her the big question, and she had said yes.

They didn’t talk during the drive but when they pulled up the stranger said "Oh yes, this one is perfect." Tom started to get out of the truck but the stranger said, "I need to do this by myself, you don’t mind waiting do you?" Tom didn’t respond but he closed the door and settled back down. Several of the diner crowd showed up but they stayed in their trucks too.

The stranger walked up to the tree and gently touched the bark. He walked around dragging his hand along the trunk and looking up into the branches. Then he stepped back.

He started by holding his arms just above his head, like you see in a bank robbery movie. He started loosely flexing his fingers almost as if a breeze were blowing them. He started to slowly sway his arms back and forth rhythm with his fingers and then his whole body but he never moved his feet.

Almost as if on cue a breeze kicked up. The branches of the old tree swayed back and forth and the leaves rustled in the hot wind. After about 10 or 20 minutes the stranger stopped and walked back to the truck. "All done" he said.

"Well now what?" Tom asked.

"Now you just wait, like I said, about three days."

"And in the meantime?" "What are you going to do?"

"Me?" Asked the stranger, "Well I guess I will head back to the interstate and see if I can catch a ride, I’m trying to get out west, got a job waiting out there."

"Get in", Tom said, "I’ll give you a ride to the truck stop about 10 miles up the road. That’s your best chance."

The stranger climbed in and thanked him for his kindness.

They didn’t talk during the drive but when Tom stopped the truck he reached into his walled and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.

"I told you, you don’t have to pay me" the stranger said.

"It ain’t payment, you just look like you could use some cash to help you on your way."

"Well, I’ll take it as a gift, but someday I will find a way to pay you back."

The stranger walked off towards the semis and Tom headed for home. That night he told Sarah the story, he even demonstrated the swaying the stranger did. She laughed and said it sounded almost as bad as Mrs. Johnson down the road who sent a hundred dollars to that TV preacher so he would say a special prayer for the farmers, Ted was glad he hadn’t mentioned the twenty bucks.

The next day the sun came up even hotter than before and the regulars gathered in at the café. As they talked about the strangers "rain dance" the stories got more wild and out of control to the point you would have thought he was possessed. The weather report came on but story was the same, hot today, hotter tomorrow and no sign of relief in site. Once again someone pointed out how they were on their last leg and had no chance.

On the second day the story of the stranger had lost its appeal as a joke and now they spoke of him in bitter tones. Just another huckster looking for a quick buck was the general opinion. Of course everyone was quietly making bets over whether it would rain tomorrow or not. After the dismal weather report everyone drifted out and went home. Sometimes misery loves company and sometimes it wants to be alone.

The sun came up on the third day and there wasn’t a cloud in site and the fourth day was the same. Tom felt really foolish about the money so he skipped going to the diner. He went out to the barn to work on the tractor. A pig farmer down the road promised to buy his withered crops for feed and although he hated to do so Tom decided it was time to hook up the combine. The trucks would be arriving on Monday and he couldn’t put it off anymore.

After finishing with the tractor Tom cranked up the pump to spray a little water on the small patch of vegetables he was growing for their own use. Sarah would can them in the fall and they would at least have something to eat during the winter when money was going to be real tight. By the end of the day he had run out of busy work, he turned towards the horizon and watched the sun set, there wasn’t a cloud in site. Tom could have kicked himself for clinging to that foolish piece of hope, "Dancing around trees" he said to himself with a slight chuckle.

The nightly news came on but the weather report was the same, more heat, more drought and not a cloud in site. Tom and Sarah sat silently watching the bad news, there was nothing left to say. Tom figured he would start in the North field so he could put off kicking up dust around the house as long as possible. After watching some drama about rich people and their fictional problems Tom and Sarah headed off to bed, neither planned on getting much sleep that night.

It was after midnight when Tom got up, he cursed getting old. After a trip to the bathroom he headed out to the kitchen to get a glass of water. As he stood there he thought he saw something out the window but wasn’t sure so he headed to the back porch. He scanned the horizon but couldn’t see anything else, so he decided to go back in, just then he saw it again, a flash of lightning on the horizon.

He rushed back inside and turned on the TV, the local station was showing some infomercial about miracle hair gunk but across the bottom of the screen they were running the warnings. The map of the state was lit up in different colors from flash flood to tornado warnings. Tom couldn’t help but think about the farmers who had been burned out so he headed back outside.

Tom flipped up the handle on the old windmill, the fantail caught the breeze and the blades began to rotate. The pump kicked in and soon he could hear the water rushing into the cistern tank near the house. His only hope was that there would be enough water to keep the roof wet in case a fire did break out. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see a arc of lightning jump across the horizon, this was going to be a big storm.

Sarah came out to find out what Tom was up to. "Look over there" he said pointing in the direction of the clouds.

"How far off do you figure it is?" Sarah asked. Tom realized he hadn’t been paying attention so when a bolt flashed he started counting. With the next flash he stared over. He repeated this about 5 times and said, "It’s at least 10 miles off but it’s headed straight this way.

"Any hail or tornado news?" Sarah asked

"There were just putting out a watch last I checked" Tom said, but hot summer storms were nothing to ignore in this part of the country. Sarah headed back in the house and started filling up the water jug and moving the necessary supplies to the storm shelter under the house, just in case.

The auto stop kicked off the pump letting Tom know the cistern was full so he shut off the windmill, if the wind kicked up any higher it could damage the equipment and if a fire did break out he would be in real trouble. Sarah finished up her preparations and joined Tom on the back porch. They could actually hear the distant rumble of thunder now, they knew for sure they were in the path of the storm. They took each other’s hand, fear, hope, anxiety, and all they could do was wait.

The first drop hit like a bomb, it had to have been as big as a grown mans thumb. It kicked up a small cloud of dust from the parched soil and left a small crater. The ground was so dry it was gone as fast as it had landed. Tom and Sarah could hear it coming, it sounded like a crowd of people running towards them. A curtain of rain descended on the farm and they were in the heart of the storm.

Fingers of lightning rippled through the clouds and when one would strike the thunder would rattle the entire house. The light show and the noise was frightening but both Tom and Sarah were glued the TV in case the warning came to head for shelter. Eventually the leading edge of the storm passed and everything calmed down to a gentle rain, there had been no hail or funnel clouds and no flash fires, they breathed a sigh of relief.

The next morning the local weatherman was trying to explain what had happened the night before. The best he could figure was fast moving moisture from the Gulf had collided with a low pressure system and caused the storm. Mrs. Johnson chalked it up to her hundred dollar prayer by the TV preacher and sent him an additional hundred to be on the safe side. Of course everyone at the café called it just a coincidence and focused on the turn of events. For the remainder of the summer the rain rolled in like clockwork and although it was far from a bumper crop there was a large enough harvest so the local farmers were saved from total economic disaster. They even began to talk about what they would be planting next year.

It was some time in November when Tom got the letter, it was postmarked from California, "Now who do I know out there?" he wondered. When he opened it up he found a letter wrapped around a twenty dollar bill.

Dear Tom

See, I told you I would pay you back!

ps, sorry about the delay in the rain, I guess the tree was on the old side and couldn’t hear so well.

Later it occurred to Tom he had never given the stranger his home address. The story turned to legend and the legend turned to myth and on a hot summer day one of the old timers would share how they witnessed the day the rainmaker came to town. But nobody ever heard about the twenty dollars or the mysterious letter, that was a secret Tom kept the rest of his life.