Adventures of Fred West - The Allsun Era
an excerpt

Fred West is perplexed:

“What is happening Nibbled Face? Why is The Woman yelling and why are the sounds and light getting bigger and bigger?”
Another loud sound began, different from the sound that was followed by the bright light. Plop, Plop, PlopPlopPlop. The Plop sounds came faster and faster and faster as another, even louder sound was heard with a brightest of all the lights following immediately. The young ones were running, jumping in to the car and closing the door. The back of the car remained open and large drops of water began to drip off of the top.
“The Woman looks shiny and wet. She sounds very angry now.”
“Fred West, I have not been in a thunder storm like this in a very long time. I hope it is not causing you to feel the tightening of fear. I love thunder storms.”
“Thunder storm?”
“Yes. The loud sound you hear is called thunder. The bright light is called lightening. The Plops are very big pieces of rain my young friend. Very large pieces of water falling from the upper expanse. Isn’t it delightful?”
“But, why is The Woman angry?”
“Many humans do not like thunder and lightening. They feel the tightening of fear with them. I do not know why. Many do not like having the rain fall on them as well. I think that The Woman is trying very hard to build the thing with the shiny sticks and the opened bundle and she is afraid and the young ones are afraid as well.”
“Why did she yell at the young ones?”
“Fear can cause one to do things that one would not usually do.”
The Plops were becoming more like a steady, hard tapping. Water was dripping off of The Woman as she disappeared into the opened bundle. Suddenly the bundle began to stand up, first at one corner, then another, and another, and another and then the middle part of the bundle lifted. Soon The Woman reappeared, stepping outside of the bundle and closing its opening. Then she ran to the car, closed the back and threw her self into her driving seat, slaming the door behind her. Then, she began to laugh.
“Why is she laughing now?”
“Wait a moment my young friend. The young ones will start to laugh also.”
Fred West waited and soon the car was filled with laughter sounds, drowning out the steady, hard tapping of the rain on the car. The only thing Fred West could hear above the sounds of laughing were the thunder sounds as they began to be softer, litte by little. The lightening was not as bright now as before.
“First The Woman was angry and now they are all laughing. I do not understand. Sometimes humans are very hard to understand.”
“Oh, not so hard Fred West. The Woman was not really angry at the young ones, but at being afraid and at getting so wet. When she came in to the car, she was very glad to be safely out of the rain and, when a human is very glad after being very afraid, often laughter follows. The young ones are laughing with The Woman. They are glad that she is not so afraid now and that they do not have to be so afraid now.”
“Oh Nibbled Face, you know so many things!” Fred West felt happy. “I think that the thunder sounds like it is going far away.”
“Yes, it does sound like it is.”
“Oh. I like the loud sound of thunder and I really like the bright flashing light that you called lightening. It did not make be feel the tightening of fear.”
“That is good because we may be in for more of both of them before the darkness hours are over. The thudding sound of the rain is steady.”
“Yes, it is. The darknss hours are here now. I can not hear the thunder any more. But, I would like it to come back.”
“I think it will, later. For now, let’s just enjoy the thudding rain.”
The two listened from the back of the car, near the rear window. Soon the thuds were not distinguishable, one from another.
“This is making me feel very happy Nibbled Face. It sounds like when the white curls of the Ocean are hitting the sand of the beach.”
“Yes, you are right. Especially when the white curls hit fast.”
“Water can be very fun. I love water. Riding white curls of the Ocean. Listening to the Plops and thud, thud, thudthudthud of rain going faster and faster and faster and faster . . .”
Nibbled Face laughed then. “Yes, water can be very fun.”
Fred West laughed and kept laughing.