…and it stopped raining.



	…and it stopped raining. By David Naughton-Shires Sam rubbed his deep hazel eyes as he woke from his restless sleep. He pulled his blanket up around his shoulders and tight under his chin and strained to listen to the morning, something was missing. It took him a few moments to realise the rain had stopped; he could no longer hear the sound of the constant deluge onto the endless sea. If he could have managed to get to his feet and make his way to the small entrance of the dark cave he would have seen the sun rising over a world of water, the only land visible the occasional bare mountain top which peeked above the waves. His dirty white linen uniform was only apparent as such by the crest of the ‘Interplanetary Temporal & Space Research Facility’ (ITSRuF) that was beginning to fade on his breast. Just below the once colourful patch a deep cut into his abdomen had ceased to bleed weeks ago and now wept an acrid smelling green yellow puss. His clean shaven appearance a distant memory as five weeks of growth had given him a thick beard which greyed at the corners of his mouth, his dirty blonde hair rested on his dirty collar and showed signs of grey at the temples Shelley had said this gave him a distinguish look now he only looked old. This had been Sam’s first solo mission. It had been a dream of his since school to be part of the programme and had been thrilled when he had sat at the breakfast table with Shelley and opened his acceptance letter from ITSRuF; he had gone through months of training to top up his already extensive knowledge of how to fly most anything man had been able to build; and a few things they were planning to build as well. In the base hanger, just outside London in an old military facility, several scientists had been busy around the compact metallic looking craft as Sam had been shown his vessel for the first time. He had been told about the biodegradable plastic shell and components which broke down in salt water within 48-72 hours unless the onboard systems were kept active and how when entering the atmosphere how important it was for the computer to keep the correct levels in the fuel consumption. He was told how an incorrect balance may lead to adverse weather conditions but was informed that ‘nothing too drastic’ could happen! But the thing he remembered most from that first encounter was how delightfully straightforward she was. Where he was travelling she didn’t need to be aerodynamic but she was; the care of the designers had created a craft of immense simplistic beauty. * * * The rain had stopped but Sam could go nowhere he could hardly move and even if he could he had eaten the last of his rations three days ago, water wasn’t a problem he had managed to settle next to a small dip in the rocks that kept full of the sweetest fresh water he had ever tasted, there was no pollution here, no acid rain or destruction of the ozone, no rain forests had been raised to the ground no cities pumped out toxic fumes into the air. This world was unspoilt, well it had been until 40 days ago. As he had re-entered the atmosphere the onboard fuel level control system had malfunctioned the computer had just ceased to manage the consumption ratio… The ships landing gear had failed to open fully and Sam had been unable to slow its decent hitting the top of this mountain hard, the collision tore a huge gash into the side of the ship and one deep into his side. He had woken hours later and managed to crawl into the cave he now lay in… …and it had started to rain. At first the rain was light but then came the storms, thunder and lightning which struck and destroyed mountains, hundreds, thousands then ultimately millions of creatures ran wildly to find a place to hide, but there was none. Mothers wailed as they saw first their homes then their children perish in the worst nature could present; the seas and oceans swelled and drowned all that stood before them no city, town, or village survived…….but now on this bright morning over five weeks later it stopped as suddenly as it had started. For the first day or two after the rain started he drifted into and out of consciousness, he had then made his way back out to the ship on the third day and pulled into his sanctum the emergency ration kit along with blankets and a small stove, it had run out of fuel after two weeks and he had thrown it into the path of the rising sea knowing all trace of it would be gone within three days once the salt water covered it. Soon the sea level began to edge its way over the lower lip of his ship and into the bowels of its workings which lay bear to the elements, the salt water at once began its feast on Sam’s only way of getting home. Home was hundreds of miles to the west and over five thousand years into the future. Well the future from were he currently sat in this grave on a mountain top. He was a flight officer in the ITSRuF programme to witness time, their ships had been seen repeatedly over the years and described by many different people in may different ways, as chariots of flames carrying the gods across the skies, as vehicles of witches and warlocks and most famously as ‘flying saucers’ but they were none of these they were just observers, never meant to interact, never meant to change things. * * * It had stopped raining over a day and a half ago now and Sam hadn’t eaten for nearly five days, he tossed and turned in his uneasy slumber and dreamt of eating succulent steak in his favourite restaurant, he was stirred by the noise of something or someone at the mouth of the cave. He froze as a shadow fell into the his dark cavern followed by the comical waddle of a raven, the bird shuffled it’s way into the darkness toward Sam, picking at the ground in search of something to eat. Lifting a rock from the earth to his side Sam composed him self and used his remaining energy to propel it at the raven. By some miracle he struck the bird firmly on the side of its head, it dropped and a small crimson drop of blood flowed from where Sam imagined its ear to be onto the muddy floor of the cave. With all the will and strength he could muster Sam dragged him self the couple of metres to where the bird lay, he gripped its still warm body and started to pull the dusty black feathers from its carcass. Looking at the naked grey skin stretched over its small bones he knew he would soon be eating his first raw bird and maybe his last meal; not what he imagined as his final taste on Planet Earth. Reluctantly sinking his teeth into the flesh he felt the tepid life blood of the creature course through his teeth and flow down into his yearning stomach he wanted to vomit but knew he needed this to live even if that was only for a couple more days. * * * Growing weaker and weaker from hunger, exhaustion and the growing infection in his side Sam began to drift in and out of consciousness again, he dreamed of his home, his wife and his boys,. Shelley had been delighted for him when he joined the programme she knew it was something he had always wanted she knew he had always had a great interest in ancient cultures and supported his request for this ‘trip’, to “experience the cleansing of a world”. What danger could there be? The following morning the sun woke him as it seeped into the cave and he decided he would get out of that cave today if it killed him. He didn’t want to die alone there in that dark dank place. Maybe to be found in a couple of thousand years as archaeologists dug up his body and wondered how a six foot tall blonde man of German decent found his way to a mountain top cave in the middle east two thousand years before Christ. It took him hours of pain and he passed out a couple of times but he finally made his way into the light; the world looked so clean, the water had started to recede and he could now see there was no trace of his ship left on the mountainside; how long before there was no trace of him here?. Just behind him above the entrance of the cave Sam could see an olive tree, it was bare apart from half a dozen leaves. Perched in the upper branches was the delicate form of a dove, the sun almost forming a halo behind its tiny head, in the doves beak was one small olive branch its fresh leaves a deep new green. Sam searched around him for a small rock to throw, could he be that lucky again but then he stopped and started to laugh, he had realised, he had read the story of the flood many times at school and over the years that followed and had always wondered why the raven never came back when it was released to find evidence of land. He had always imagined it to be a despicable creature with no care for any other. Now he knew the truth. The reason the raven never came back was because he had eaten it. He was the reason. Sam continued to laugh and lowered his tired body onto the soft ground as the dove took to the air; with his last remaining vestiges of the energy Sam watched as it flew out toward the horizon as the small rock rolled out of his hand onto the earth beside him. Closing his eyes for the last time he knew where the dove was going, he pictured it as it perched on the aged weathered hand of a old man of simple means as he stood looking out from the deck of a ship which had transported him and his family into a brave new world THE END.

By David Naughton-Shires

Sam rubbed his deep hazel eyes as he woke from his restless sleep. He pulled his blanket up around his shoulders and tight under his chin and strained to listen to the morning, something was missing.

It took him a few moments to realise the rain had stopped; he could no longer hear the sound of the constant deluge onto the endless sea. If he could have managed to get to his feet and make his way to the small entrance of the dark cave he would have seen the sun rising over a world of water, the only land visible the occasional bare mountain top which peeked above the waves.

His dirty white linen uniform was only apparent as such by the crest of the ‘Interplanetary Temporal & Space Research Facility’ (ITSRuF) that was beginning to fade on his breast. Just below the once colourful patch a deep cut into his abdomen had ceased to bleed weeks ago and now wept an acrid smelling green yellow puss.
His clean shaven appearance a distant memory as five weeks of growth had given him a thick beard which greyed at the corners of his mouth, his dirty blonde hair rested on his dirty collar and showed signs of grey at the temples Shelley had said this gave him a distinguish look now he only looked old.

This had been Sam’s first solo mission. It had been a dream of his since school to be part of the programme and had been thrilled when he had sat at the breakfast table with Shelley and opened his acceptance letter from ITSRuF; he had gone through months of training to top up his already extensive knowledge of how to fly most anything man had been able to build; and a few things they were planning to build as well.

In the base hanger, just outside London in an old military facility, several scientists had been busy around the compact metallic looking craft as Sam had been shown his vessel for the first time. He had been told about the biodegradable plastic shell and components which broke down in salt water within 48-72 hours unless the onboard systems were kept active and how when entering the atmosphere how important it was for the computer to keep the correct levels in the fuel consumption. He was told how an incorrect balance may lead to adverse weather conditions but was informed that ‘nothing too drastic’ could happen! But the thing he remembered most from that first encounter was how delightfully straightforward she was. Where he was travelling she didn’t need to be aerodynamic but she was; the care of the designers had created a craft of immense simplistic beauty.

* * *

The rain had stopped but Sam could go nowhere he could hardly move and even if he could he had eaten the last of his rations three days ago, water wasn’t a problem he had managed to settle next to a small dip in the rocks that kept full of the sweetest fresh water he had ever tasted, there was no pollution here, no acid rain or destruction of the ozone, no rain forests had been raised to the ground no cities pumped out toxic fumes into the air. This world was unspoilt, well it had been until 40 days ago.

As he had re-entered the atmosphere the onboard fuel level control system had malfunctioned the computer had just ceased to manage the consumption ratio…

The ships landing gear had failed to open fully and Sam had been unable to slow its decent hitting the top of this mountain hard, the collision tore a huge gash into the side of the ship and one deep into his side. He had woken hours later and managed to crawl into the cave he now lay in…

…and it had started to rain.

At first the rain was light but then came the storms, thunder and lightning which struck and destroyed mountains, hundreds, thousands then ultimately millions of creatures ran wildly to find a place to hide, but there was none. Mothers wailed as they saw first their homes then their children perish in the worst nature could present; the seas and oceans swelled and drowned all that stood before them no city, town, or village survived…….but now on this bright morning over five weeks later it stopped as suddenly as it had started.

For the first day or two after the rain started he drifted into and out of consciousness, he had then made his way back out to the ship on the third day and pulled into his sanctum the emergency ration kit along with blankets and a small stove, it had run out of fuel after two weeks and he had thrown it into the path of the rising sea knowing all trace of it would be gone within three days once the salt water covered it.

Soon the sea level began to edge its way over the lower lip of his ship and into the bowels of its workings which lay bear to the elements, the salt water at once began its feast on Sam’s only way of getting home.

Home was hundreds of miles to the west and over five thousand years into the future. Well the future from were he currently sat in this grave on a mountain top.

He was a flight officer in the ITSRuF programme to witness time, their ships had been seen repeatedly over the years and described by many different people in may different ways, as chariots of flames carrying the gods across the skies, as vehicles of witches and warlocks and most famously as ‘flying saucers’ but they were none of these they were just observers, never meant to interact, never meant to change things.

* * *

It had stopped raining over a day and a half ago now and Sam hadn’t eaten for nearly five days, he tossed and turned in his uneasy slumber and dreamt of eating succulent steak in his favourite restaurant, he was stirred by the noise of something or someone at the mouth of the cave.

He froze as a shadow fell into the his dark cavern followed by the comical waddle of a raven, the bird shuffled it’s way into the darkness toward Sam, picking at the ground in search of something to eat.
Lifting a rock from the earth to his side Sam composed him self and used his remaining energy to propel it at the raven. By some miracle he struck the bird firmly on the side of its head, it dropped and a small crimson drop of blood flowed from where Sam imagined its ear to be onto the muddy floor of the cave.

With all the will and strength he could muster Sam dragged him self the couple of metres to where the bird lay, he gripped its still warm body and started to pull the dusty black feathers from its carcass. Looking at the naked grey skin stretched over its small bones he knew he would soon be eating his first raw bird and maybe his last meal; not what he imagined as his final taste on Planet Earth. Reluctantly sinking his teeth into the flesh he felt the tepid life blood of the creature course through his teeth and flow down into his yearning stomach he wanted to vomit but knew he needed this to live even if that was only for a couple more days.

* * *

Growing weaker and weaker from hunger, exhaustion and the growing infection in his side Sam began to drift in and out of consciousness again, he dreamed of his home, his wife and his boys,. Shelley had been delighted for him when he joined the programme she knew it was something he had always wanted she knew he had always had a great interest in ancient cultures and supported his request for this ‘trip’, to “experience the cleansing of a world”.

What danger could there be?

The following morning the sun woke him as it seeped into the cave and he decided he would get out of that cave today if it killed him.

He didn’t want to die alone there in that dark dank place. Maybe to be found in a couple of thousand years as archaeologists dug up his body and wondered how a six foot tall blonde man of German decent found his way to a mountain top cave in the middle east two thousand years before Christ.

It took him hours of pain and he passed out a couple of times but he finally made his way into the light; the world looked so clean, the water had started to recede and he could now see there was no trace of his ship left on the mountainside; how long before there was no trace of him here?.

Just behind him above the entrance of the cave Sam could see an olive tree, it was bare apart from half a dozen leaves. Perched in the upper branches was the delicate form of a dove, the sun almost forming a halo behind its tiny head, in the doves beak was one small olive branch its fresh leaves a deep new green.

Sam searched around him for a small rock to throw, could he be that lucky again but then he stopped and started to laugh, he had realised, he had read the story of the flood many times at school and over the years that followed and had always wondered why the raven never came back when it was released to find evidence of land.

He had always imagined it to be a despicable creature with no care for any other.

Now he knew the truth.

The reason the raven never came back was because he had eaten it.

He was the reason.

Sam continued to laugh and lowered his tired body onto the soft ground as the dove took to the air; with his last remaining vestiges of the energy Sam watched as it flew out toward the horizon as the small rock rolled out of his hand onto the earth beside him.

Closing his eyes for the last time he knew where the dove was going, he pictured it as it perched on the aged weathered hand of a old man of simple means as he stood looking out from the deck of a ship which had transported him and his family into a brave new world

THE END.