It Might Rain: a short story by: GF Willmetts.
People say things often happen in pairs. Looking at the bland sky overhead and thinking it couldn’t come at a better time. For a long time, because we weren’t an affiliated country, we were off the weather grid. Lower case business name so we would accept it as the norm and not a heavily copyrighted name. You only have to pop across the border and look at the weather forecast and we weren’t there. A blank on the map. By their definition, we had no weather, so we popped back home to uncontrolled weather. No guidance to what we would get or how bad.
It took several decades and a lot of political change at home for us to negotiate ourselves onto the grid which also meant we would finally share good weather. Who wouldn’t talk about the weather?
Of course, it wasn’t the only concern but we had to come a long way. After all, we had been accused for years of stealing their weather. Quite how they thought that was aways a problem. They had the grid, we didn’t. Did they think we put pipes covertly under the border to draw rainwater off or perhaps brought clouds over so we could have some rain or floods or even move them out of the way so we had sunlight. Us versus the grid. All thoughts of fantasy. They didn’t care about our weather only their own. They could put the rain where they wanted. We just had it randomly and even the forecasts weren’t always right.
Yet politics started with weather. What was it you asked anyone when you met them? ‘What was the weather like today in your part of the country?’ People wanted their opinion although not necessarily listening to the answer. Even when they knew where the grid was going to put it, they avoided the reports because they wanted unpredictability in their lives. No one ever asked us because they thought we had different weather. Maybe we should have been talking them to come off the grid and have wet weather during the day than at night.
With all the global warming going on, we needed to get on the weather grid for our own protection. Direct most of the bad weather away from our homes. There was a need for a lot of concessions to adjust our own ideals to theirs. We’ve seen that happen in the past with other countries. It’s never an easy thing. A lot of bad blood under the table that would take a lot of bandages to soak up to find a middle ground of tolerance.
Generations do that. It gets rid of old thoughts and copying what went on in the past. People want things different or better if they can get it. The creation of the weather grid didn’t stop global warming but it could direct the bad weather or spread it out so lessen the effect. It was cheaper to pay them than repair all the flood damage. Of course, it took a lot of investment from a lot of countries. There was even a big discount for the third world countries figured largely because it would save costs in rescue plans.
There were a few countries that held out, usually for political and expense, sometimes both, simply because it felt like being railroaded. Belong and we save your skies and country. Don’t and face your own consequences. We don’t care. There were a lot of political arguments on this, especially as to whether the grid was forcing the bad weather over our country, even if it was only indirectly. I mean, it had to go somewhere. Would joining up mean some other country that hadn’t joined up resulting in bad weather from our own hypercritical behaviour?
A couple countries had dropped out simply because they couldn’t keep up with grid payments, doing that rather than get into debt or, worse, being downgraded to a third world country. The lack of financial and political clout on that would have been too much. It didn’t exactly make us friends with such countries but it was clear that there was no free lunch going on here. It was all about making the weather grid company very wealthy. One of the major countries should have stepped in earlier and nationalised it. Would have made them a lot of capital but capitalism, bribery and backhanders put pay to that. Now the grid owners were as wealthy as any nation and with an even bigger say. So much for democracy.
What was never said or revealed to the general public was the dregs of the weather was poured over those who didn’t join the grid. It had to go somewhere and we had the extremes instead. A subtle blackmail to join up…eventually. The mire of corporations and you couldn’t get bigger than this one. He who owns the weather rules the world. Literally. It wouldn’t stop global warming but it could slow it down…at a price. So we or rather they paid the price. We would never really have much choice.
The downpour from their spent weather made them think as it fled into the fields of the adjacent country as the weather grid recalibrated itself to include our country. It was going to be sunny today. That downpour would soon dry up but it was a reminder to all the countries what would happen if they weren’t paid regularly.
A blackmail by any other name but we expected it. Did they really think we would be saying, ‘Oh woe is us. We get lousy weather until we pay up?’
They also overlooked the possibility that someone would come up with their own weather machine and do a hostile make-over. We did. New thoughts. New solutions.
We hadn’t been exactly idle while we faced all our bad weather but worked out a means to make our own weather grid. Not quite like theirs, of course, or we’d be in court for years over rights. Even so, we could contain the weather and that’s what counts. While their weather grid was trying to contain our deluge, our representatives offered a cheaper deal if they dropped out. Commerce in weather had never been contemplated as it was pretty much a monopoly before. Nature. Then the weather grid. Now ours, weather heaven. Also lowercase. Who do you think won? We might even save the world while we’re at it as well. It might well rain today.
© GF Willmetts 2023
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