HOW THE RAIN CAME 



light come from the sky when it does 

 come. It wells up from the earth in- 

 stead, for when the crimson is gone the 

 sky is still black with shadows, while the 

 pasture grows distinct in a gray outline 

 wherein is no color. 



A stillness of expectation broods all 

 things, a stillness so intense that the 

 first rain-drop sounds like a pistol-shot 

 as it strikes a leaf near you. Then 

 there is a volley and further silence for 

 a brief space, followed by a crepitation 

 all about you. Those first heavy drops 

 have been followed by lighter ones, and 

 this crepitation merges into a steady 

 drumming, which becomes a low roar 

 to your ears made sensitive by silence 

 and faint sounds. The first of the fall 

 rains has come, and the summer suffer- 

 ing of the pasture people is at an end. 



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