Alan looked out over the mess of left by the winter storm. Building would have to cease until the ground dried and they could pull the machines out of the cloying mud before it turned to hardened clay.

He raised his eyes to the lingering clouds that covered the horizon, still dark and heavy with un-spilled rain. When Alan saw the white cloud that looked like a shark fin cutting through the sky, his breath caught in his chest. Alan turned his back to the clouds and ran to find his mother. They would listen to her if she spoke of the omen and they had to be warned.