Clouds seriously move...

Before I launch into another one of my tirades, I’d like to remember the families who lost their loved ones to the flash floods. May God be with you.

So, it was a sunny day on May 16, 2012…at least it was sunny until it wasn’t. As usual I was struggling to finish a biochemistry report because as my life in medicine has taught me I’m not as good at school work as I was in high school. I had ten minutes left and ten pages left to go and this included graphs that had to be drawn and a certain friend of mine, I’ll call her Nalani [because of the meaning] had decided that sitting on the bench outside would be the perfect place for our reports to be finished. [Remind me not to listen to CERTAIN friends].

There we are sitting calmly with our other friend, who’s…um…spirited attitude is getting in the way of my writing that is she is shouting and complaining about being there even though she has nothing to do…this is making her irritable and it’s making me want to punch her not to mention she was doing all this with earphones on so it was taking the whole volume of her voice to a new level….a really new level. She’ll be Neci.

Anyway, I’m mumbling a lot because the amount of time I have left and the amount of work does not comply to anything possible because clearly and as always, the world is against me. They tell me to shut up and do my work but that only makes me want to scream a little more for lack of control of my fingers which are shaking at four hundred kilometres per hour. [Can you calibrate shakes?]

Suddenly, Neci looks up. “What is that?”

We ignore her because she’s been talking too much anyway.

“No seriously you guys, what is that?” she says again.

I glance up at her happy to be shifting even the slightest bit on the little space that Nalani has left for me on the bench despite the fact that Neci has another one all to herself. Granted I did follow Nalani to the same bench so that’s my entire fault.

Neci has panic written all over her face.

“What is what?”

“You stop talking and do your work.” Nalani barks. Jeez, someone needs to chill.

“That sound. You can’t hear.” She looks up at the sky. “It’s about to rain.”

Assuming she’s heard thunder I nod and take my eyes back to the undoable work on my book. But this time I’m really listening…it doesn’t sound like thunder at all because thunder doesn’t take five…ten…twenty seconds to die down. Thunder dies down faster.

I’m now curious to know what exactly the sound is. I look in its direction and notice about five people sprinting like maniacs towards the field of grass that we’re on.

It can’t be, I think to myself even though I have not the slightest idea as to what ‘IT’ is.

I look at Neci. She seems to figure out what is about to happen and then next thing I know she’s up. “You guys it’s a passing cloud!” she shouts.

I don’t catch on at first but Nalani is even slower. It’s when we really hear the rain that we get on our feet.

If you’ve met me then you know there’s one thing I cannot pretend to do. It’s calm.

I’m not even sure I know what the word ‘calm’ means.

I’m not even sure if my name and 'it' can be used in a sentence unless not is included.

Just like with the dog, Lu.

I want to cry. Neci is already jogging on the spot trying to get us to leave. Nalani is pacing…as if that’s helping.

Finally I kick in some much needed panic phrases.

“Holy sugar[yeah right, like I said sugar]! Get everything!!!! GET EVERYTHING! NALANI PICK EVERYTHING!” I scream at the top of my lungs. Neci takes this as her cue to run away. Nalani is still dazed and out of her element of neatness and order. Despite the description, she’s the least neat of my friends…there are worse.

I’ve not even touched anything yet, except the pen I’m holding. When I realize this I start to do some much needed hero antics. But it involves a few unnecessary instructions…to myself. “PEN! BOOK! OTHER BOOK! OTHER PEN…NO THAT’S A PENCIL! OTHER BOOK! BENCH! NO NOT THE BENCH! CAR! CAR? BAG! DROP BAG! PICK BAG! UMBRELLA[I didn’t even pick that one up]! NALANI! NO NOT NALANI! SELF! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!”

I haven’t run in a month but I swear I was the fastest creature out there. I could feel the wind in my hair and then suddenly the rain too. It had caught up with me but not enough to soak me as I got into the shelter of the nearest building I was safe!

But not Nalani. Nalani was not in good shape, worse than mine and so she was soaked. I sank to the ground…I was wiped out. A run of fifty meters can do that to a girl…error…make that twenty…ten, I’m thinking it was ten…either way, it can do that to a girl. Crazy!

All in all we are fine. I have agreed to take them for some wilderness training and it’s over.

I’m out, PEACE!