Chapter 2: chapter 2

The Story of Lightning and ThunderA long time ago, Thunder and Lightning lived on Earth. Thunder was an old mamma sheep while Lightning was her son, a baby lamb. The gods had made them live on a homestead on a huge farm, surrounded by a field of trees. This was so that nobody in the nearby town would be disturbed by the ruckus the mother and child made every other day.They were by far the noisiest pair. Lightning was a naughty lamb who got into all kinds of trouble on the farm. He would set off on his own and constantly get lost somewhere or the other. Sometimes he got himself trapped in a pile of hay. Other times he would climb a tree and get his horns stuck in a branch, jump off a barn and fall on his face, or run towards the jungle at the edge of the town.Every time he did this, he would start screaming at the top of his lungs. Then Thunder would have to come running to rescue him. But because she would most often not know where he was, she would shout his name.This isn’t out of the ordinary for a mother and son, is it? All small kids are naughty and keep getting into scrapes from which they need rescuing. But Thunder and Lightning were deafeningly noisy.Each time Lightning had been rescued, Thunder would give him a piece of her mind in a loud, rumbling voice. Then Lightning would also throw a tantrum in anger and rush off to knock down some trees, burn a barn or two, or throw branches at a few houses. Thunder would then scold him in an even louder tone and ask him to stop immediately. But in his terrible temper, Lightning would not pay heed at all. He would just run helter-skelter, his mum desperately following him. This would lead to a very stormy and tense mood for everyone on Earth.The people on Earth had grown quite annoyed with these flare-ups, not to mention the terrible damage to their property. So, on a calm day, they approached Thunder.‘Milady, the antics of your son have destroyed the roofs of most of the houses in town. Trees have been uprooted. Farms have been burnt and destroyed. The cacophony is simply unbearable. Please do something to sort this out, once and for all,’ requested the town chief.Thunder sighed and replied, ‘Even I am at my wits’ end. I don’t know how to control this child’s temper. I apologise for the trouble caused. I’ll try to rein him in.’But things did not improve. In fact, when Thunder told Lightning to tone down his mischief, he became furious and started rampaging. This time he caused many more houses to crash, and some poor people got badly hurt. The sounds that night were unbearable.The next day, the townspeople went to the gods.‘O lords, please do something about Thunder and Lightning. They are creating too much mayhem. In spite of our complaints, the mother and son refuse to give us peace. Please find a solution to this issue,’ urged the town chief.The gods were angered to hear of the rampage. They assured the townspeople, ‘We will sort this issue out immediately.’The gods then summoned Thunder and Lightning and ordered them to leave the townspeople alone and go live at the far edge of Earth, where the sky meets the land. Here, the sheep and lamb could graze and live comfortably without disturbing anyone’s peace. But it was not long before the lamb got back to his antics, this time burning down whole fields of grass and tearing down trees.When the gods realised their orders were not being followed, they banished the mother and son from Earth and packed them off to the skies. The gods were stern with Thunder. ‘Keep an eye on your son at all times. When he sets off in a mood, make sure you follow close behind, scolding him to stop immediately and warning the humans to be careful and hide in their houses. This way at least people won’t get hurt.’Ever since Thunder and Lightning moved to the skies, humans have been spared their cacophony. Now, even when Lightning tries to run amok, we can hear his mother, Thunder, following right behind him, yelling at him to stop. And Thunder still warns people to be careful and crouch in a safe place so that they don’t get hurt by her son, Lightning.