[XOTM] Wishing for rain

Zipping along the the sun baked flats of the desert along his delivery route for the day, Aphra is quietly cursing himself for his uncharacteristic tardiness this afternoon. The night before he was late to go to bed, eagerly staring out at the night sky. He had hoped the rainy season would start soon! He adores the way the desert comes to life, the way all the plants and animals respond and what fun it can be to watch it all close up. Waking up a little later than usual, he was throw off schedule and this lead to a series of mistakes. Misplacing things and forgetting others, every little slip up only compounded the issue and put him further behind. Even in such recent hindsight, he wishes he hadn’t been so flustered.

At the very least it couldn’t be worse. He is going to make it before the deadline, so long as nothing goes wrong and there is nothing in the way of his hover-scooter for as far as he can see ahead. If he just keeps travelling, he should make it.

We’ve all heard it said that we should be careful what we wish for but he’d never been on the stinging end of it. The boom of thunder coming from behind him nearly sends Aphra jumping out of his seat. When his reddish eyes turn to examine the sky the Xero audibly gasps. That very rain he wished for is rushing towards him in a dark, ominous curtain. Like a wall of water, the downpour is advancing across the desert sands and he is certain his bike will not continue to outrun this. Still, he has to try. Hiking his tail into the air the determined little courier floors it, leaning forward full tilt. “Aaaah! Come on, scooter we’re going to get washed way! W-We have a job to do!”

Sometimes determination and gumption aren’t enough. All the will in the world won’t slow this force of nature and Aphra is helpless to stop it. He can’t risk the harsh wind and rain damaging his delivery or blowing it away from him to be lost in the desert forever! He doesn’t know much about this parcel, aside from it being a genetic sample, headed to a lab south of B’Haddu. He spots a cave in a large stone formation not far from the dirt road he is racing along. Aphra knows veering off could mean he can’t beat the rain to the cave but he isn’t left with any other options. He exclaims loudly, as if somehow his cry of resolve will make the engine of his scooter speed up.

The raindrops are huge and heavy as they start to fall around him, he barely outruns the worst of the approaching sheet of rain. Only a little wet as he skids to a halt and slides his hover scooter into the narrow cave. Letting out a sigh of relief, there is not much left to do but wait. Aphra hunkers down, expecting to be stuck here for some time as surely this is a monsoon. He pulls out the lunch he packed and listens to the rain as the opened sky empties all around him onto the desert below. It’s calming, seeing how the bright red sands turn dark as they are so easily saturated with moisture. Everything in the vast and dry desert surrenders itself to the rain, being showered with life and the promise of a chance to grow and bloom. He watches as a small rodent leads it’s young into the same cave for shelter, awaiting their chance to thrive off the plants that are sure to spring up in the coming days.

The sun pierces the clouds again much sooner than Aphra anticipated. The heavy rain is gone as quickly as it came, perhaps not the full blown monsoon he thought it to be. In fact, his nerves may have catastrophized the whole thing. He hastily packs his lunch bag up and hops back on his scooter to hurry on his way. The clouds above still drizzling refreshing sun showers down around him. A little water never hurt anyone. For the rest of his ride to his destination, Aphra is surrounded by the rocks and sand all glittering in the light, beads of water clinging to everything and shining like tiny gems. It wasn’t the smooth delivery he had planned but it was certainly more exciting and a job well done no less. Maybe he shouldn’t give himself such a hard time.