Singing in the rain

Doppler radar my ass.  It only made the meteorologists laughable. The wise rainmakers who wouldn't commit to anything:

Frost or a foot of snow
Partly cloudy with some sun OR sunny with a chance of clouds.

Way to go you Einsteins.


But The Cloud?  They got it right; sadly so.  It began as a joke over Tehran but stopped being funny when people started dying; horribly.


Those stupid power hungry crazies across the pond just couldn't leave well enough alone. Nuclear bombs werent' good enough.  WMD's? Ricin? oooooh they were child's play compared to this hot mess; a whole new chemical monster.  Like so many other sneaky race demolishing toys designed, it was colorless and odorless.  But the "Spring Fever" Powder when mixed with hydrogen made a strange gas which caused the paralysis of all muscles; like succinyl choline. Lovely.  You stopped breathing and moving but remained conscious.  And did I mention that it also burned? Oh yes, from the inside out like a smoldering campfire unquenchable with water. In fact, the moisture inside the body only enhanced your experience causing you to dissolve.  Death could come mercifully in an hour or linger for days depending on the penetration. But it's efficacy was one hundred percent.  So they thought they were clever kings until the manufacturing plant sprung a leak and then exploded releasing their angel maker into the atmosphere to blow around.  They never got to witness their sick victory because they poisoned their own land first; all their livestock, their people...everything gone.


I watched my doom creep across the globe on Doppler radar.  The cloud split once dragging across the US and Canada after getting caught in a tropical storm. Tropical storm "Destiny". How cute. We had to contend with the ocean vomiting its dead on our shores.  No one complained because it was useless.  We knew we were next and so we simply watched oblivion float in and out with the tide like a clock ticking down the minutes left for humanity.

It loped along; leaving bodies withered and choked, holding each other twisted in gruesome pain and fear.  And when it got to my first home, lots tried to run underground. But if they made it beyond the storm itself, there was nothing useful left when they emerged.  It had all been poisoned.   Others gulped at it to end the suffering sooner.  And when I think of it now, they are the lucky ones. I have tried to dodge it but I'm running out of hiding places.  I keep a small stock of food in cans, raiding stores I pass.  It is getting smaller as I am able to carry less.  I'm growing weaker.  I wear a ventilator mask that mumbles and wheezes, struggling to save me.  I'm covered in layers of sooty clothes that I cannot change.  The stirring of the thick layer of dust will descend on me for certain. I sleep when I can and take different modes of transportation where available; scooters, bikes anything.  I hate this running. I don't know how much longer I want to.   I remember how rain used to cleanse everything. I recall the sweet smell of spring.  Now it is heavy and salty. It carries a hiss with it as  everything melts away. 

There are no more Doppler broadcasts or radio shows.  On occasion there are simple air wave requests but they are few and far between, disappearing after only a couple of days. I watch my death chase me.  It is dark and rolling.  The clouds are pissed that they cannot catch me and they throw neon lightening to the ground in electric tantrums.  The rain that falls is thick and sounds like cake batter on the roofs.  It clings childishly to everything and destroys whatever it likes. 

 To see the ghosts of society that are left is sickening.  I can not help them.  They lurk in corners, their flesh sloughing away;  crying softly begging God to end this.   "Rain rain go away." I whisper to Him daily.  It is the last prayer I remember.   Like Edgar Allan Poe's "Mask of the Red Death" I think I will let it in soon. The party is over and I'm simply too tired.  

 I hear the deadly rain on my windows. Searching for me, asking me to come out and play.
 With tears streaming down my doomed face I step into my forever:


"Siiiiingin in the raiiiin...
Just siiiiiingin in the rain!
What a glorious feeling...(tap tap)
I'm happy again!"



Hey Gang.
I do like this one although it is a little more plodding and less intense than usual.  Need to try different things right?  I hope you liked it.  Thanks for stopping in.  You're good company.