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Father's Day, 4:00 PM
Exterior of the Vrobel household. Dark clouds gather. A light rain starts to fall.
Our Hero desperately wants to grill himself a steak for Father's day. It's tradition. Hearing the rain, he looks up from his laptop. A few clicks later, he is looking at the weather radar.
"Hm. Line of thunderstorms. According to the short term forecast, they're moving through quickly. I'll be good for dinner."
5:00 PM
Sheets of rain have been falling for an hour. Outside there is a flash of lightning, followed by a thunder clap that shakes the house. Our Hero's youngest runs into the room.
"Daddy, should we be in the basement?"
"No, Tim, that's just thunder. The storm is almost past. We'll be fine."
6:00 PM
The rain has stopped. Ominous gray clouds sit overhead. Our Hero slowly removes the cover from his grill. He does this carefully, to direct the puddle of water on top away from the deck. The Faithful Wife looks out the screen door.
"You're still going to grill?"
"Of course! It's father's day, I'm grilling steak. It's too late for charcoal, but I can beat the next line of storms if I'm quick."
A wind blows across the deck. A light pattering of rain starts...
"Darn. I'll let the grill preheat while this little drizzle blows through."
6:15 PM
A steady rain is falling. Steam rises from the top of the pre-heated grill. Our Hero and his Faithful Wife look out the screen door.
"The radar says this is a small cell of rain. Once it passes, I'll have a half an hour before the heavy stuff hits us. Plenty of time to grill."
Lightning flashes, and the rain gets a little heavier.
"Dinner will be a little late; I'll give it another fifteen minutes to pass through."
"I'll start making the margaritas" says the Faithful Wife.
6:30 PM
The rain is heavier now. Our Hero stands in front of the screen door, juggling a set of grilling tongs, a platter covered with corn and sweet potatoes, and a golf umbrella.
"Hey, kids, who wants to help me grill?"
The kids slouch down on the sofa, hoping he won't see them watching iCarly in the next room.
6:45 PM
Our Hero stands in a downpour, trying to keep the umbrella centered over the grill. His Faithful Wife waits by the open screen door, ready to receive platters of food. Our Hero shifts to the right to pick up a platter. As he does, the umbrella moves, and rain pours into the grill. A hissing, spitting cloud of steam rises. He shifts to the left, moving the umbrella back over the the grill. The platter, now out in the open, fills with water. Muttering to himself, Our Hero grabs the platter, tips the water out, moves it to the same hand that holds the umbrella, and starts to fill it with grilled corn and sweet potatoes.
A sudden gust of wind yanks the umbrella upward. Our Hero grabs it with his other hand, the one also holding the tongs, and holds tight, waiting for the wind to pass. The Faithful Wife tries not to laugh.
7:00 PM
Our Hero, having wrung out his socks, sits barefoot at the dining room table. In front of him is his grilled steak, corn and sweet potatoes. The kids are wolfing down the steak. The Faithful Wife lifts her margarita and asks:
"Well, was it worth the effort?"
Our Hero takes a bite of his steak. He closes his eyes and smiles.
"Of course!"
7:15 PM
Exterior of the Vrobel household. Dark clouds part, blue skies appear, and the sun shines through.
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Declan says
Good man. I've done it myself many times.
YL says
Been there done that! Only by me it was a massive blizzard that wasnt predicted and ended up dumping 3 feet of snow on the NY area last December. I had gueast over that I had promised I would grill them something good and I ended up "waiting" and grilling during the heat of the storm!
By me also, everyone tried not to laugh at the hero!