I was about ten years old. Like every other family in our neighborhood, we had an external kitchen. That’s where I was. My parents were in the garden somewhere close by, my mum probably planting onions while my dad, hammer and nails in hand, was busy repairing the fence. The birds in the nearby trees were singing their sweet songs to the tired sun when the sky suddenly opened up.

Our place is much predictable when it comes to the weather. It only rains seriously when the rains have originated from the eastern hills. But this was not the case. Even I knew that the cloud was just passing for it came from the west, the slopes extending to the floor of the rift valley. And for this reason, my parents continued doing what they were doing for, they’d not even get wet before this was over.

Image adapted from http://www.bigfoto.com/themes/nature/sky/index.htm

That’s when I saw a lightening and the whole place went BOOOOOOOM!!!!!! The first thing that came to my mind was that our house had collapsed, and I rushed out to see whether they’d witnessed the same. The house was intact but my dad was not!!! What I saw will remain forever in my mind…..

He was over seven feet in the air, and coming down fast. I just stood there, rooted to the spot and saw him land heavily on the ground. The moment he touched the ground, he started crawling towards my mum screaming something like, ‘I’ll not die and I’ll get saved!’ The rain had in fact stopped by then.

The next thing I knew, I was running to the house screaming, into my room, covering myself under the blankets, then out of the bed, out of the house and back into my room again. I was in such frenzy, like a wounded elephant bull, that I didn’t even think of going over to offer the little help that I could.

On my third rush out of the house, I met them at the door. My dad, sweat dripping from his face, was like, ‘What’s the matter?’ And I replied, ‘Nothing….’

That’s a miracle I’ll never forget. The wire he was hammering in had been cut cleanly into two.

So the next time it’s raining cats and dogs and I pee on myself, just keep it in mind that it’s not my fault.