The Rainmaker

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They call me the Rainmaker. The actual term "Rainmaker " has a profound meaning. He is highly regarded and is supposed to bring money and business to the organization. I am the exact antithesis of this term. All I make is rain. 

I had a normal childhood until I turned eight. On this day, my birthday, my parents and sister were busy preparing for the party in the evening. I invited all my school and society friends. It was going to be one beautiful evening where we played games, cut the cake, and opened the presents after everyone returned home. As it turned six, my friends started arriving one by one. Soon, the house filled with laughter, music, and conversations between parents. When it turned eight, my mother announced that it was time to cut the cake. As I stood in front of the delicious-looking cake, my sister whispered into my ears that I should make a wish first and then cut the cake. As I was an avid nature lover and interested in climate change, like any well-meaning eight-year-old, I wished that I would have the power to solve the water problem and cut the cake. Everything went well that night. We had dinner, wished a safe journey to everyone, opened the presents and finally went to sleep.

I got up with water on my face. I saw the most astonishing sight anyone could ever see when I opened my eyes. A tiny baby cloud was hovering two feet above my face. It had a friendly cute face, beautiful round eyes, a small puffy nose, and dimples. I first asked, "How did it manage to get inside the house?" in the heavens. After a few seconds, the second one was "Why is this cloud alive?" and after exactly five seconds of watching the cloud, the final one emerged from the depth of my addled brain "Why me?". After wiping my face, I sat up. The cloud also shifted with my movements to stay above my head and dripped water regularly. I had heard about the Chinese water torture method from my 10th-grade seniors in school as part of their research in "Medieval Torture  Methods," and these irregular water droppings felt the same. After a few more minutes, I yelled, "Oh Lord, why me?".

The baby cloud answered, "Well, you wished for it. Here I am!". I pondered for a few minutes, thinking why, and when I wished for a cloud, the baby cloud added, "You made a wish yesterday that you wanted to solve the world's drinking water problem. Our lord, the great CloudBottom, heard it and decided to make your wish come true. He sent me to fulfill it, and I am here. My name is Neil B. Cloud, and I am at your service Alex". Alex, after a few moments of silence, said, "Nice to meet you, Neil. Will you always be hovering on my head or face?" "Yes, Alex. I will always be with you until you die. Those are my orders". Neil, with his head drenched, asked, "Will you always be dripping water on me?" "Well, that depends on the weather and water concentration in the air around you. If it is dry, I cannot collect the water. On the other hand, if I have collected water, I must release it slowly or sometimes all at once". Alex got up and went to the bathroom with Neil hovering over him. 

While it was a shock to everyone at home, in school, and everywhere I went, people got used to seeing the kid with the cloud. As I grew bigger, Neil also grew. He became from a baby-faced kid to a big blob of grayish fluff. From time to time, he dripped water on me. Some days were worse. Like the day I made a flying saucer for the school science fair, Neil broke down and drenched me completely. The flying saucer instantly became a coracle of sorts. The good part was the water from Neil tasted pure like spring water. I got included in all adventure sports as no one had to carry water bottles. Being a natural water boy for the school team, I became an instant hit. The going was good. I became the mascot for the football team—the "Rainmaker."

As the word spread, the governmental agencies sought me to help with natural disasters like forest fires and droughts and primarily to create mini swimming tubs for kids in summer for fun. The going was great. I was famous. As time passed, Neil was growing bigger and bigger. By the time I turned 25, he was about 10 feet in length and 5 feet wide and constantly raining at a slow, steady pace. I had to either carry an umbrella or wear rain protection cover nearly all-day hours. Luckily, I work outside in wide-open areas, and so far, people have given me a wide berth. 

Another five years passed quickly. Neil has doubled in size and must hover 30 feet above in open spaces. In the house, it's a different story. I sleep inside Neil as he fills the entire room. I need to soak up nearly two feet of water that accumulate in the heavily water-proofed room every morning. Even with a powerful pump, it takes two hours to remove the water and then blow-dry the floor. The situation is worse but manageable. Neil says that he cannot control this part of his body anymore. We probably have to go and live in the desert.

Two more years passed, and the situation became dire. Neil has expanded so much that he started generating lightning and thunder. It is a very nerve-wracking experience when you are sleeping in the cloud, and suddenly lightning bolts across your face, and your ears ring with the cracking thunder. Once or twice, I got hit by the electric discharge and suffered minor burns. We must move now!

Over the next few days, I sold the house and packed and shipped out all I owned. After putting the essentials in the car, I started driving out. Neil mainly was outside, floating on the vehicle's top and keeping pace with my driving speed. A few hours into the journey, we hit a sudden thunderstorm. I parked the car in a deep ditch alongside the road. One of the lightning from the dark clouds hundreds of feet above hit Neil. In an urgent bid to release the accumulated energy, Neil underwent a cloud burst phenomenon and dumped a corpus amount of water and flooded the car.

I managed to get out and lay panting on the road with incredible difficulty. The thunderstorm passed on quickly, leaving the sky clean and bright. Neil, after the burst, looked deflated. A small puff of pale, shimmering,  shuttering in the gentle breeze. I called out to Neil and asked him how he was. He just moved feebly as an acknowledgment. With no way to travel and no one to ask for a lift, we just sat under the hot sun, trying to regain our strength. 

A few hours passed slowly. I finally managed to stop a trailer and negotiated with the trucker to take us to the edge of the Mojave Desert. The driest desert in North America. The only place in the country where we can be safely together. Forever!.

It was perfect weather for Neil. Under the dry condition, he went back to his original baby-faced cloud form. He was happy, and I was too. Under the hot sun, I always had cloud cover and clean drinking water. As for food, we managed to travel to the city outpost once a week and get supplies. We aged gracefully, together. Till death, do us part!

I turned seventy today. I was still strong even with years of toiling under the sun and sleeping under the stars. The day started as usual. A calm sky followed by a scorching sun. We set out for our hunting rounds, looking for desert-dwelling creatures. It was November, and the temperature at 10 am was still balmy. It was good weather to hunt. As I parked my jeep and walked in the direction of the mountains, dark clouds appeared in the sky. It was going to rain hard, really hard. I started running back to the jeep, but the thunderstorm overtook me. Amid the storm, a bolt of lightning struck me and stopped my heart. 

Neil watched me die. He cried, shedding large drops of water on my prone body. He did not wish to leave me; however, Mr.CloudBottom was unequivocal. Until his death, you can stay, then you must come back home. He slowly disappeared from the face of the earth.