The Storm
Written by Leona NielsenPublished on February 2013
A heavy dark cloud hung over the hills as the barn awoke
with the first sign of light. After
breakfast everyone headed out for a day in the field.
“Good morning” yelled the neighbouring horses from
the other field. “I saw you had a treat
of pears last night from the tree. Were
they good?” one of the horses shouted.
“Oh yes, were they ever!” replied TC
“WHAT! Did I miss something?” shouted Joseph. “You mean there were pears and I missed them” Joseph said as he scratched his head.
Baby laughed out loud because there isn’t much that Joseph doesn’t see but somehow the pears got passed him.
Joseph turned around giving Baby the eye.
“Oh Joseph, you know I wasn’t making fun of you when I laughed. It’s funny, you have to admit.” Baby answered.
“Yep Baby, I guess you are right.” replied Joseph. “Why couldn’t I have missed something other than the pears?” Joseph asked himself.
Before Scout realized, the morning had passed. He was so busy keeping an eye on that cloud to notice anything else. Scout has seen those kinds of clouds before.
“Scout, you have a worried look on your face. Are you alright?” asked Baby.
“Just watching the cloud, Baby.”
“Why? Is it going to do something that we should see?”
“It could Baby. We will have to wait and see.” replied Scout.
“Well, let me know if it does.” Baby shouted as he galloped down the field to see Joseph.
As it turns out, Scout wasn’t the only one concerned. Missy knew something was brewing. The sky wasn’t looking too friendly.
“Joseph, what is that noise?” asked Baby.
“What noise, Baby? I don’t hear anything.”
“Oh Joseph, you can’t hear the clicking? Never mind, I’ll ask someone else.” Baby answered as he went running to see Missy.
“I have a question. A really big one.” Baby said.
“What can be so big Baby that you are out of breath from running?” asked Missy.
“Oh Missy, I am hearing a noise and I don’t know what it is!”
“A noise?” Missy asked.
“Yes, Missy. It is a click clicking noise in the corner of the fence.”
Missy turned her head to see what had Baby so excited. Then she realized that it was the noise fences make.
“Baby there is a lot of moisture, or you may say water, in the air today and when the fence gets a little damp it makes that noise.” answered Missy.
“But Missy, I have never heard it that loud before.”
“Maybe, Baby, you were too busy the other times to notice.” replied Missy as she walked away.
By this time Joseph was starting to wonder what Baby had found out so he slowly walked over to where the rest of the herd was.
“Joseph, you are not out of breath like Baby,” TC remarked.
“Well, no!! I am a donkey and we preserve our energy.” Joseph answered.
“One of these days they will have one of those moments and remember what a donkey is like.” Joseph thought to himself as he checked to make sure there were no pears to eat.
Everyone was enjoying some new blades of grass except Missy and Scout. They still had their eyes on the sky which was growing darker and darker. There were more clouds rolling in.
Missy suggested that they should make their way back so they would be closer to the barn.
“We have lots of time, Missy.” TC said as she continued to eat.
“Scout, the grass is so good here. Come and join us.” shouted Baby.
“Yea, Scout, don’t stay over there by yourself.” Joseph added.
Scout knew it was going to happen soon as he asked Baby and Joseph to join him where he was. He wanted to be closer to the barn and at the same time he didn’t want to alarm them about what he thought was coming.
Scout was trying to get a fly off his back when……
BANG!!!!!!! Went the thunder. FLASH!!!!!! Went the lightning. Seconds later the skies opened, spilling rain on everything and then the winds came BLOWING!!!!!!!!
Anything that could be pushed around was on the move. The rain was falling so fast that it was like snow.
“SCOUT!! SCOUT!! Where are you?” was all he could hear from Baby and Joseph as they tried to see him.
“I’m over here and I’m coming to get you.” shouted Scout as he started crossing the field.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, after Missy, TC and Seeker had settled their nerves somewhat, they started running towards the barn.
“Should have listened to you earlier Missy when you wanted to leave.” yelled TC over the rain.
“Can’t go back and change things,” Missy yelled back. “Just run!”
Meanwhile, the rain was getting heavier as Scout yelled to Baby and Joseph. “I’m here, follow me back to the barn.”
“Oh Scout, are we ever glad to see you. The rain hurts when it hits our bodies.” said Baby as he snuggled into Joseph, trying to keep the rain out of his eyes.
“Both of you stay close to me.” Scout told them in a stern voice.
“Maybe we can be like the elephants and grab each other’s tail.” Joseph said.
“Not a bad idea, Joseph.” replied Scout
“Baby, grab Joseph’s tail.”
“WHAT??” shouted Baby. “I can’t grab Joseph’s tail. Scout, there is nothing there to grab. Have you looked at it lately?”
“Okay, then Joseph, take Baby’s tail.”
Joseph wasn’t sure about this. One thing for sure, there was enough tail there to grab……
“SCOUT, I DON’T…..”
That was all Joseph had a chance to say when the flash of lightning hit again. Joseph grabbed onto Baby’s tail.
“Legs, keep me moving.” Yelled Joseph.
Scout lowered his head as if to shelter it from the wind and rain as he led them to safety. Missy and the others finally had made it to the barn.
“I haven’t seen a storm this bad in years.” remarked Missy.
Seconds later it started to hail.
“OUCH!! OUCH!!” shouted Joseph, as the hail fell on him.
Joseph’s eyes were as big as saucers. He hadn’t seen hail before.
“What’s that hitting us, Scout?” Baby asked.
“I’ll explain later Baby. I have to get you to safety.
“Does anyone know if there is someone home to let us in?” Missy shouted to everyone.
“I hope so.” answered TC as they all turned their faces away from the wind. Minutes later Scout, Baby and Joseph arrived in front of the barn.
“Scout, we have made it!” Baby said as he got closer to him.
“That’s enough excitement to last me a year.” Joseph said as he tried to hide those big ears from the rain.
“Let’s go in.” Scout said.
Baby looked in and started to back up, bumping into Joseph.
“What was that for Baby? Go in.” said Joseph.
“No, I don’t want to.”
“What is wrong?” asked Scout.
Neither one answered.
“Oh, I bet I know!” said Joseph.
“You do.” replied Baby nervously.
“You are afraid!” Scout replied.
“I’m afraid that the thunder and lightning are going to follow into the barn.” Baby answered.
“It won’t come in.” said Scout.
“Promise?”
“Yes, I promise.” answered Scout.
The rain had fallen so fast that it had created a small flood on the floor of the barn.
“Where’s Noah?” asked Joseph.
“Noah?? Who’s that?” Baby asked.
“You know, Noah and the Arc. THE FLOOD IS HERE!” yelled Joseph.
“Oh Joseph, it’s not really bad. It only looks like it is. We’ll be alright.” Scout assured Joseph.
“It looks pretty bad to me. I can’t see my hooves and half my legs are under water, Scout. Are you sure we shouldn’t give Noah a call?”
Scout was amused at what Joseph was saying but he certainly understood his fear. So he reassured him it was going to be fine.
Moments later, Scout looked up and through the rain he could see one of the owners coming towards the barn.
“Someone is coming, Missy. I see them.” Scout shouted to the others.
Before long, they were safe in the barn away from the storm. They had hay and the flood was getting smaller by the minute. As fast as the storm came it went, allowing the sun and the birds to return. Baby saw a tiny humming bird resting on the flower outside the window. He was wondering where the humming bird had been during the storm, being so small, when in through the window came Murphy, soaking wet.
“Murphy, are you alright? Did you get caught in the storm?” asked Baby.
“I had nine lives this morning when I started out and now I am down to five.” Murphy remarked as he made his way up to the hay loft to dry off.
“But, Murphy…..” He was gone, leaving Baby wondering what had happened to him.
The owner felt it was safe to let them out again until supper. As they stood looking around, Joseph looked at Scout.
“What did we do to make Mother Nature that mad?”
“Well, Joseph, my mother used to say that it was Mother Nature’s way of getting rid of the cobwebs. Before you ask what that means Baby, I didn’t know then and I still don’t know now. What I do know is that Mother Nature sometimes can get upset at some of the things that happen. That’s something that I can tell you about during the long winter days when we can’t get out.”
“Okay, Scout, sounds good to us.”
As night came, the barn was quiet and Baby had forgotten about asking Scout about the hail. Everyone slept like babies.
Hi everyone! That is our story for this month. We learned that something may start out one way and end in another but you can learn something along the way. Also, Mother Nature needs us to look after her like she looks after us.
Next time, we will tell you about The Harvest. See you then. Baby, Joseph, Scout and the rest of our family – Missy, TC and Seeker.
Be sure to check out our new photos on the web at
www.uniacke.org