Empowerment. Engagement. Authenticity.
Talk About the Weather - Flipping Weather the Birdie
The road stuck out from a slate-grey horizon,
like a dark, wet tongue, mocking him. That was when he could see the
goddamned road. Rain splattered the windshield and windows like
birdshit, making the wipers as useless as chopsticks in soup.
"What did Margerie say?" Steve asked.
"Make it work." Arnold swerved the van away from the scrape of a sodden
branch. Trees drooped like scraggly panhandlers on either side of the
road. Cover a golf tournament for TV in this weather. Sure, boss lady,
easy for you to say.
"At least there's the clubhouse and that beautiful covered patio where
we can do interviews."
Arnold cut a look at the reporter in the backseat with her bouncy
ponytail and buttercup yellow blouse. Trust little Miss Sunshine to see
a silver lining. Bad enough she was this chirpy before coffee. Like to
see her ankle-deep on soggy turf handling a camera. He sank deeper into
the collar of his windbreaker and watched the Starbucks drive-through
inch closer.
When they arrived at the clubhouse, Laughter mixed with the clink of
glasses and cutlery. Jesus, most people had pints of beer in their
hands. Didn't anyone notice the monsoon out there? Maybe ‘notice’ wasn’t
the right word since these were blind golfers but, seriously, who could
ignore the tennis-ball thud of rain on the roof? Arnold supposed even he
would tolerate the weather if he could drink before nine in the morning.
But, no, he was about to shoot footage in a downpour.
At least Steve had taken Miss Sunshine's idea and set up interviews on
the patio. The stalwart producer and his effervescent teammate. Arnold
trailed after them, huddled behind his camera and set up the first shot.
"Now there's something I'd like to stretch out on my butcher block," a
tubby man whistled in Miss Sunshine's direction. He jostled his
companion. "Eh, Larry? That one would sure heat up your bakery.” Arnold
thought Larry resembled a skinny candle in a squat holder. “Come meet
two of this town's most upstanding citizens, sweetheart," the butcher
beckoned to Miss Sunshine.
"She's on the job fellas," Steve intervened mildly.
The butcher leered. "I gotta job for her."
"Rising to the occasion!" the baker chortled.
Briefly forgetting visions of soaked socks and dripping clothes, Arnold
chuckled. Now there was a story- the butcher, the baker and Miss
Sunshine as the candlestick – heh – ‘taker.’
(c) Kristy Kassie, 2016
Talk About the Weather
The weather can affect how a character perceives
a situation and the people in it.
