It was one of the hottest days of the year, and Jim was sweltering at the construction site. Sweat poured down his face and back as he hauled heavy equipment under the relentless sun. The air felt like somebody left an oven door open, thick and stifling.
"Man, I'd give anything for some rain right about now," he said to his co-worker Miguel during their lunch break. They chugged bottled water, trying to cool off.
The afternoon seemed to drag on endlessly. Jim's drenched shirt clung to his skin as he operated the jackhammer, breaking up concrete on the road repair project. He daydreamed about jumping into a cool lake.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the whistle blew for the end of their shift. Jim shakily made his way to his pickup truck, cranking up the air conditioning as high as it could go. But it was so hot outside it felt like his air conditioning wasn’t working.
Bumper-to-bumper traffic made the commute home even more miserable. An hour later, Jim finally pulled into his driveway, drained and dehydrated. As he stepped out of the truck, he heard a distant rumble of thunder.
Looking up at the sky in disbelief, he saw dark clouds quickly rolling in. A cool breeze started kicking up, stirring the stale air. Then the heavens opened up in a deluge of pouring rain.
Jim stood there, arms stretched out feeling the cool droplets. "Ain't that about a... I've been waiting for this rain all damn day!" he shouted. The rain water drenched his body as he laughed in relief.