The woman smiled in a way that didn't seem much like a smile. "There's some folks think they know a way to make the rain come."
The girl wasn't sure what that meant, but it was even hotter by the lake than in the grass and she was getting mad at the woman for talking in riddles. "Do you know or not?"
The woman's not-smile faded and she opened her mouth to speak-
"Girl! Come away from there!"
The girl cringed then turned to find her father coming down the path that led from the south field and the house to the lake.
"Your mother been lookin' for you."
The girl nodded but didn't move. "Yessir."
Her father eyed the old woman warily. "You ain't talkin' crazy talk to my daughter are ya now?"
The old woman's face had gone stern. "She asked me if I knew how to make the rains come."
The girl's father frowned, his weather-tanned skin going pale, but then he turned to his daughter. "Ain't no one knows how to do that. We just have to pray to the good Lord and if it's his will, the rains will come." He was close enough to take her arm now. "Now come away home or your ma will go mad lookin' for us both." He faced the old woman once more. "You just stay away from her, you hear?"
The woman stood her ground. "Was just trying to be the girl's friend. Seems she's missing one."
The girl's father's face tinged red and he spun and pulled her toward the path without saying more.
When they were in the dry, dying stalks of the south field, the girl spoke. "Pa, is that woman a witch?"
He didn't stop or look at her. "No. She's just a crazy old woman. Stay away from her."
"She said that this plant called al-gee killed all the fish in the lake."
"See, crazy talk. The heat boiled the lake and killed them fish."
The girl frowned. "Oh."
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just keep writing...just keep writing...writing, writing, writing!
Writing is Magic.
The First Rule of Write Club is You Talk About Write Club.
If You Aren't Writing, You Aren't a Writer.