The Drought
Kristina Howells
Copyright © Kristina Howells 2011
Smashwords Edition
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The Drought
It had been hot now for three months. Day by day, week by week, heat and sun.
‘I just wish it would rain,’ thought Joel, as he began to set about going to work on the swollen roads, which were getting tired of the heat.
Listening to the radio, and still praying for rain. Joel noticed something sinister in the distance. Swerving round to avoid it only meant his car swerving off the road.
‘Oh Shit,’ he screamed at the top of his voice. ‘How on earth am I going to get to work now?’
The sinister figure he swerved to avoid came to see him.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘But I nee some help with my car. It had broken down. When I went to open the boot, I noticed it had run out of water.’
‘Oh,’ Joel replied. ‘I’m afraid I also don’t have any water spare to help.’
By now water was becoming scarce. News reports update the situation day by day. There was no end to the problem.
The South Eastern region of France was badly affected. There, it was becoming hard to carry on with the daily tasks, as many important offices had closed. Joel’s office was in a small town just outside of Marseille. It remained open as usual.
However, the Northern regions in France helped where they could. The rain in the north was in full flow. It was a rather different situation there. The people of the south just wished they too could have some of the rain.
Then by chance, a glimmer of hope seemed to be on the horizon. As Joel sat beside the sinister man, who by now was not as sinister as he first thought, began to make polite conversation.
‘My name’s Pierre,’ he said cheerfully, knowing that he had found a friend in Joel. ‘I hope we can have help soon.’
‘Yes,’ Joel smiled.
‘And when we do, I will help you get your car sorted.’
‘Thank you,’ Joel muttered.
The glimmer of hope that Joel had just thought about soon faded away. The night sky was drawing in fast. He had been sitting with Pierre for over eight hours now.
Not many cars had passed them by. They tried hard to flag them down, but to no avail. They were left alone, beside the road.
Morning couldn’t come soon enough. Joel not feeling too worried prayed that someone would see them from his office. Stop and help them return back to normal, as the sun started beating down upon them.
Pierre a businessman hoped for the same thing. But as time passed them by, no one came to help.
Joel had an idea.
‘Look Pierre we have been stranded here for almost two days without food and water. If we are to survive we must leave our cards and start to walk it along the road. It’s only two miles to the nearest town.’
Pierre nodded in agreement. It was their only way of hope. Walking along the road made them quite weary, as they looked out for any signs of habitation.
‘What’s that in the distance?’ Pierre exclaimed. Pointing his rather long finger at the farm house, standing in the distance. ‘There maybe someone to help us.’
Joel nodded in agreement. They then began to make their way to the farmhouse.
It didn’t take too long to reach it. When they arrived, they had noticed that it was empty.
‘Let’s go round the back to see if a shutter is open,’ suggested Joel.
‘What do you mean, break in,’ said Pierre.
‘Well not exactly, just use the phone to call for some help, and maybe get something to eat.’
Walking round to the back of the farmhouse, they noticed only one shutter was open. Pierre managed to climb in through the window, and opened up the door for Joel.
Whilst inside they noticed how wonderfully clean it was. The table was already laden with food. The wooden floor and the grand entrance to the living room hung many splendid family portraits.
It was while they were inside the living room, Joel noticed a telephone. He began to dial the number to his office. He hoped the secretary was there to answer it. But as the phone began to ring, no one was there to answer it.
‘Everything alright Joel,’ asked Pierre.
‘No one is there.’
‘Oh well, I suppose we could stay here until morning and then continue to walk to the next town,’ suggested Pierre as he turned on the TV.
‘But I thought you told me you had run out of water.’
‘Yes, why?’
Then Joel began to see the glimmer of hope that befell them. He continued to persuade Pierre to take the water that was sitting in the bottom of the cupboard and put it into his car.
Pierre finally agreed it was a good idea.
Taking the water in the bottle, Pierre and Joel began to walk back to their cars. Soon they were back at the spot where they had first met. Pierre filled up his car with water and offered to help Joel, by giving him a ride home.
‘Well thank you for your company,’ said Joel, ‘and returning me home.’
‘Thank you for yours.’ Pierre replied, before making his own way home.
Joel was by now rather unhappy that the drought could have affected him like this. When the following morning arrived, Joel was surprised to find as he looked out of his window, dark clouds.
‘Great,’ he gleamed jumping for joy. He could now get his car sorted out. It seemed the drought had finally come to an end. For the first time in days, weeks and months, it finally rained.
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