RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY by GILLYLEE RATED FRPT

Rescues take place all over the globe. And sometimes the memory of a certain area pops up when deciding where to go on a vacation.

There was no wind, not a sign of wind. And it was stifling hot. A tiny wisp of cloud appeared for a split second and vanished just as fast in the pale blue sky. Another wisp came and went. Then another one.

After a gruelling period of back-to-back rescues Scott and Virgil were glad of their much-needed vacation. They had arrived only a few hours ago at a beach hotel on the coast of Croatia and now sat on the balcony belonging to their room. It looked out over the sea, sprinkled with islands, some largish, some small. Some looked uninhabited; on others they could see quaint looking white houses and churches.

The tiny wisps of cloud slowly became larger and larger before they disappeared.

Virgil opened one eye before a yawn split his face. ‘That's the downside to conventional flying... jet lag,' he thought.

Scott sat lost in his book, his feet up, resting on the balcony railing. He looked over at his brother sitting, basking himself in the sun, on the other side of the balcony table. ‘That's the good thing about jet lag... I have an excuse to be lazy,' he thought and yawned too, rather noisily. ‘If only it wasn't so mind-numbingly dull.'

Hours passed and the clouds that appeared now were there to stay.

Scott got up and strolled into the room, pottering around there for a while before returning to the balcony. Although he was usually an avid reader, the inactivity was making him restless.

"How about going to the beach for a game of volleyball?" he asked.

"In this heat?"

"Swimming, then."

"Can't you just enjoy the peace and quiet?" asked Virgil.

"Yeah, but don't you think it is a bit too peaceful and quiet?"

"No."

"Across the road there's a quad rental," said Scott. "We could..."

"No! Enjoy the quiet and rest, Scott."

"I'm rested," said Scott, sounding a bit irritated. "And bored, Virg!"

"You were the one who wanted to come here," said Virgil. "You said it looked like a great place to rest, eat and..."

"When we were here before it didn't look this quiet!"

"When we were here before we were busy..." Virgil lowered his voice, as there could be someone on an adjoining balcony, "trying to keep that ferry afloat."

"That was a bad storm," mused Scott.

"Yeah, a really bad storm," agreed Virgil.

More hours passed. Every time one of them looked up at the sky more clouds had mushroomed into being, making it feel even hotter and more humid.

‘Is something brewing up there, and if so, what? Just rain, a thunderstorm, a tornado?' Virgil wondered. Born in what was generally known as Tornado Alley, he didn't worry about what was going on in the air. Not really, but having experienced more than his fair share of what storms could do, he did wish he knew more about the local climate and weather.

Scott looked up at the clouds. ‘Just like tornado weather, apart from the colour of the sky,' he thought. He noticed the birds were very quiet, even for this time of the day. And even during the hottest time of the day there were always stray cat and dogs in sight, but now there wasn't a single one around. It didn't worry him yet, but he knew all too well what storms could do, so he kept on watching the sky.

The atmosphere got stuffier and more airless by the minute. Just the effort of breathing had the men breaking out into a sweat. The clouds were now covering the whole sky and turning from white to gray to black.

Virgil began to look apprehensively at the balcony furniture (just heavy enough to hurt someone) and the clothes line (not sturdy enough to hold them). His eyes also measured the windows (too large). Pouring himself another glass of water, he noticed the bottle was nearly empty. Getting up, he took it into the hotel room to refill it from the jerry can they'd bought that morning in the small supermarket across the road. But when he opened the little refrigerator he found that it was empty. "Where did you leave that water?" he asked, walking back to the balcony.

"In the bathroom," answered Scott.

"In the bathroom?"

Scott nodded with a lopsided smile, then spread his hands in an apologetic gesture. "You know what they say about bathrooms, Virg."

"This bathroom has two outer walls and a window, Scott," said Virgil. "And I don't think the fittings are that sturdy."

"True," admitted Scott. "You think they do have tornadoes in this place?"

"Not sure if they're common here," said Virgil, "but they can form anyplace. So," he paused, "we're going to shelter in the bathroom, then?"

"With two outer walls and a window? Not to mention the fittings? Are you crazy?"

The brothers went out on the balcony again.

A few raindrops fell. A herd of goats stampeded down the arid slopes of the hills behind the hotel. And suddenly the bay was filled with little colourful fishing boats, rushing to the harbour.

Nature held its breath. Abruptly the crickets were quiet...

Torrential rain, blinding flashes of lightning, deafening thunderclaps.

The two men sat side by side on one of the beds and watched the onslaught. Even though they were so close together, they had to yell to make themselves heard.

"What the hell...?" yelled Scott, pulling his feet up as the rainwater poured in from under the door.

"Shit!" Virgil jumped up and splashed through the room. Dragging the refrigerator from the wall, he peered behind it. "Of all the idiotic set-ups," he muttered. "It's connected directly to the power cord coming from the wall."

"So?"

"So there's no plug to pull." Virgil straightened up. "Don't just sit there, Scott, bring that table over here. I want this fridge up off the floor."

Scott got up. "You agreed to have our water in the room," he said, pushing the table over to where his brother was heaving the refrigerator up in his arms.

"Not in the company of a Croatian fridge," Virgil said.

Lightning hit a lone standing tree, its lines briefly traced out by fire before the rain doused it. A ferry glided slowly into the bay. A ragtag flotilla of small boats huddled together closely in its lee.

Finally the storm moved away, out to sea. The sky became clear again. The rays of the setting sun coloured the dirty looking wet cotton balls of clouds a coppery red as they spent their last drops of water.

The two brothers ventured out on the balcony. Water gurgled down the drains. Everything dripped. The smell of ozone made Scott sneeze as Virgil untangled a one-piece swimsuit that had blown into the bougainvillea that climbed up to the balcony.

"Hey, look," he said, holding the garment up. It was in various shades of blue, cut up high at the leg.

"Stunning," said Scott, "and even in my favourite colour."

"I didn't know they came in this size," said Virgil. "It's colossal. I'll bet we would fit into it together."

Scott shuddered. "No way," he said. "The only way I'm getting into a woman's swimsuit is if..."

"...the woman is still in it," said Virgil. "Do I know you, or what?"

"OK," he continued, "what am I going to do with it?" He grinned. "Hey, I sure hope the owner wasn't in it when she lost it."

Scott looked over the balcony railing, half afraid the woman was lying somewhere below. But all he saw was a cat slinking through the wet grass, shaking its paws after every step.

"We'll leave it at the front desk as we go out," he said. "Here!" He retrieved his and Virgil's tennis shoes. "Get into them."

"What are we going to do, Scott?" asked Virgil.

"We're going to the village, see if there's any damage done. Maybe somebody needs help!"

"I thought we were on vacation!" Virgil protested. "And besides, it was just a thunderstorm. What damage do you expect?"

But his brother had already disappeared around the corner. Virgil sighed, grabbed the swimsuit and followed Scott out.

"Before you call for help with your equipment, Scott, I'm right behind you," he called out.

He turned the corner to see that Scott had stopped running and was waiting for him. "What?"

Virgil grinned. "Never mind. Debriefing afterwards?"

Scott opened his mouth to respond but Virgil didn't wait for it. "Come on," he said, running past toward the stairs. "We've got a rescue to complete! I mean, just think... the beach volleyball net could have blown down. People could be trapped out there!"

He couldn't help laughing.