A Storm in the Mountains
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 87874
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The weather could change quickly in this mountainous region. As the dark
thunderclouds gathered and the first heavy drops of rain began to fall
(it had evidently become significantly warmer in the last half hour or
so, so that rain fell rather than snow),
the light level dropped significantly. It was now very nearly as gloomy
everywhere as it had been in deep shadow just a short time ago, and Astra
felt very drowsy. She tried to force herself to remain alert and to keep
moving. She wanted to find cover before the lightning which she could see
in the distance arrived. Whilst she did not know what being struck would
do to her, she was unwilling to put the experiment to the test.
With the clouds now hiding the sun, it was hard to keep track of direction, which would be important in determining where the sun's rays could penetrate once the clouds moved away. However before long Astra saw an indentation - it wasn't really deep enough to be called a cave - in the rocky wall to her right, which she thought faced east. If so, then tomorrow morning the rays of the rising sun should penetrate it. And it should protect her from the lightning, as she would have rock directly above her. (By now, the rain was torrential and mixed with hail, but that bothered her not at all.) A flash of lightning was followed by a thunderclap only ten seconds later. The heart of the storm was very close now. The thunder was so loud and had such a large low frequency component that she felt it as a vibration through her body as well as heard it. So she made such speed into the indentation as her currently sluggish body would allow. As it became even darker, she swiftly fell asleep.
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JH (edited to correct my slip concerning Astra'a ability to hear)
9/11/2009 1:08:03 PM
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