Friday and The Race Against the Elements.

Friday 2nd August 2013: 06:31am. The challenge was set. The gauntlet thrown down. This was a race against time, and a race against mother nature herself. He knew he only had a short amount of time before those sinister pitch black clouds on the horizon were going to be directly over his head. Feeling sure that he still had enough time, he leapt upon his bike and started the journey into work.

He turned the first corner heading for the main road and glanced up to the heavens. Even now as he looked the dark looming skies seemed to be getting nearer and were now covering more of the horizon. He considered turning back now, and taking the car before he went too far. He circled at the end of the road deciding what to do, before thinking to himself. 'No. I can still probably make this', so he set off with grim determination to his distant destination.

The journey was tiring and hard at this early hour but he battled onwards, keeping an eye of the skies above him at the constantly expanding and progressive ominous dark blanket covering the sky. Then he heard a distant rumble of thunder and was sure that all was lost and that at any moment the heavens would open and his fears would be realised.

Onward he pedaled, as hard as his aching legs would allow, more determined than ever that he was going to arrive at work not looking like a cat who had just fallen in a pond. Then, as he skidded to a halt outside the office front door and fumbled for his keys, there was a bright flash of lightning followed almost immediately by a deafening crack of thunder. Then the heavens opened. Huge fat rain and a lot of it, the kind of rain that soaks you to the skin in seconds. Although this wasn't bothering Carl, as he had made it into the office in the nick of time just as the thunder crashed, and was now smugly just watching the rain fall down from inside.

There probably should be a moral to this story. Probably involving the fact of not always giving up and taking the easy route, even when things seemed stacked against you. Because sometimes, just sometimes, things will go your way and the sense of achievement gained far outweighs the sense of failure should it not. Although, you can probably think of a better one than me.

Still, do have yourself a marvelous blessed Friday one and all.