Where Weather Comes From

away, Xiu said in her calm, soothing voice, "That is our new friend Jorge. To us, who are very tall, it is merely stomping. We will feel the vibrations, but not much more. To those who are very small, Jorge's stomping is much stronger."

  "I see," said George, although he only kind of understood what she meant.

  Meanwhile, over in South America, Jorge was busy stomping dinosaurs and making earthquakes. He wore the perfect boots for stomping, which to humans, would be like wearing a yacht on each foot. Jorge the giant was a very good Earthquake Specialist, happily stomping the dinosaurs into the ground so they would not be discovered many years later. In fact, he was so good at Dino-stomping, and earthquake-making, that pieces of land broke off when he stomped. These tiny fragments floated off into the ocean, becoming islands.

  Meanwhile, George continued to make it rain all over the world, and afterwards, Xiu would make beautiful rainbows.

  Things went smoothly for a while.

  Then one day a new voice said, "Hey you! Where's all the water at, buddy? I'm here to make giant waves."

  "Hola, s?nor! I am Jorge."

  This new giant was a tiny bit shorter than Jorge, and much rounder about the waist. He was considerably older, but certainly not old. He had a thick beard and wore glasses. In a gruff voice, the bearded giant said, "The name's Reese," and he stuck out his hand for Jorge to shake. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Jorge. Now, sonny, I'm here to make giant splashes. So where's all the water at?"

  Jorge pointed south-east. "There is plenty of water over that way, s?nor," indicating the body of water that would one day be called the Gulf of Mexico.

  "Thanks, kid!" Reese said heading in that direction. Over his shoulder, broad as ten acres of land, he called out, "I used to be a swimming instructor, so you better watch out! I'm awful good at splashing and making waves! The ad in the newspaper said they'd be called Tidal Waves."

  Not long after, Jorge found himself standing in a giant puddle. His boots were soon soaked clear through! The new giant, Reese, certainly wasn't lying. He was very good at his job, Tidal Wave Maker.

  "My boots! My boots!" Jorge cried. "I cannot do my job while wearing wet boots!" But he soon realized that all the dinosaurs in the area had been stomped, and it was time to move on. There were many other places for him to work-especially in the areas that his new friends Xiu and George had pointed to earlier. He hoped the new spot wouldn't be too close to any large bodies of water, so his boots could dry out.

  IV

  George and Xiu had been busy making rain, and rainbows, much the same way they'd been doing all along. They were both working in the place that would one day be called Ireland.

  One afternoon, while George was napping on a mountainside, he awoke and saw an extremely tall woman coming towards him. She was even taller than he was! Once she got closer, George saw that this new lady-giant had a long, steep nose (roughly the same contour of the mountain he'd been resting on) and was soon peering down the length of it at him, a dissatisfied expression on her face. Her hair was about the craziest thing he'd ever seen: bright red, frizzy hair that stuck straight out in every direction. This new giant stood straight as an arrow, with perfect posture, reaching a height of exactly two miles (not including her hair, which added another 1200 feet).

  "Good afternoon, sir. My name is Gertrude," she said in a not-so-pleasant manner. She wasn't rude, not exactly, just very abrupt. "I was just hired as the new Electrical Engineer. I am here to make flashes of light appear from the clouds."

  "Well, how-de-do, ma'am. I'm George," said the rainmaker, offering up his best smile. "I make all the rain down here. And that gal way over there, the one with the paintbrush, is called Xiu."

  The lady merely sniffed.

  "What's that?" George asked, not meaning to be rude, just curious about the large round item she was holding in her hand.

  "This is a balloon, good sir," Gertrude said. "I will use it to make flashes of light."

  "I see," said George, even though he didn't see at all.

  "No, you clearly do not see, good sir. Therefore, I will demonstrate for you." Gertrude took the giant balloon (which to a human would be nearly as big as a hockey rink) and raked it across her hair, very, very fast, creating what she called static electricity. Then she held the balloon inside the cloud that George had just used to make it rain. There were a few crackles, followed by a brilliant flash of light. The lightning bolt hit the earth, striking the spot directly beside George's foot.

  "Jiminy Cricket!" George cried, jumping out of the way, uttering the name long before it was used in a children's book (and a movie). His big clumsy feet, which always seemed to do more harm than good, stepped on the mountain he'd been napping on, collapsing nearly half of it. "That was close, Gertrude! Try to keep control of those flashes of light, if you please."

  "I cannot guide the bolts of electricity," Gertrude said in a snippy tone, as if the whole thing had been George's fault. "I can only produce them. The ad in the newspaper said the flashes of electricity will be called lightning."

  While conversing with Gertrude (or rather, while she talked), George squinted his eyes towards the horizon.

  Sure enough, another giant was coming their way.

  "Yessir, looks like another newbie!" George said, accidentally inventing the word 'newbie'.

  The newcomer hollered, "But what's the use of all that lightning without a little thunder to go with it?"

  This new giant was roughly the same height as George, but much thinner, much younger, and with a bit of an edge to him. He was dressed very casually in flip-flops and cargo shorts. He also wore trendy glasses and had a measly scratch of five o'clock shadow on his cheeks.

  "I'm Baxter," said the skinny young giant with the peach fuzz. Without another word, he let loose with a tremendous belch that rattled the sky.

  "How disgusting!" Gertrude said giving the young giant a displeased look, even worse than the one she'd given George. "The very least you could do is say excuse me, young man."

  "Excuuuse me!" said Baxter cheerfully. "So how's everybody doing? As for me, I was just hired today. I'm here to make loud rumbling sounds. The ad in the newspaper said it'll be called thunder."

  Xiu, who had just finished putting the last shade of orange in her latest creation, came over to meet the new giants. "Ah, some new arrivals, I see? I am pleased to meet you." She shook hands first with Gertrude, and then Baxter. She was about to say something else, when out of the corner of her eye she noticed more movement. Everyone looked, right as two giants took two huge leaps from the eastern tip of future Newfoundland, to the future island of Greenland, then Iceland, then another quick jump over to what would someday be called Norway. They accomplished all this while managing to get their shoes only a little bit wet in the North Sea. Then the two of them hurried down the coastline to join the other giants, by way of what would eventually be called Denmark, Belgium, and the U.K.

  "Oh look!" Xiu said. "Here comes our old friend Jorge! And he has someone else with him, I see."

  Soon Jorge and another giant were standing alongside everyone else.

  "Hello, Jorge!" George said, embracing his friend.

  "Hola, George! Hola, Xiu!"

  "How has your new job been coming along, Jorge?" Xiu asked. "We sometimes feel the earth move even over in this part of the world."

  "Oh, very good, beautiful s?norita," Jorge said. "I have worked very hard, and I have nearly stomped out all the dinosaurs! They will not be discovered again for many years." Jorge was then introduced to Gertrude and Baxter, and they all shook hands and said hello like civilized giants.

  "And who might you be?" George asked, motioning to the man with the beard and glasses.

  "The name's Reese," said the Tidal Wave-maker. "The pleasure's all mine." Reese took turns shaking hands with everyone, greeting each of his fellow giants and giantesses. "I've been working over yonder with this hard-working young man, making tidal waves and such. I've got a strict schedule to keep, but every once
in a while?my foot slips."

  "Ah, so you're the one who gets my boots all wet every now and again?" George said casting a curious eye at Reese, but meaning no offense, which none was taken. "I often wondered where all those giant waves were coming from?"

  "Sorry about that," Reese said. "Just doing my job."

  George gave Reese a friendly pat on the back. He gave a cheerful, "It's all good!" long before the phrase became popular.

  Then Gertrude came up with an idea.

  "Well now!" With a loud clasp of her hands, Gertrude interrupted all the happy chitchat. She stood in front of the group, acting as if she'd been put in charge of things. "As you can all plainly see, there are six of us. And as you are all well aware, six is the perfect number of employees to start a business. I insist that we all join together, as a team, and start our own company. What do you all say to that?"

  Xiu was the first to speak. "That is a wonderful idea, Gertrude. We should indeed start our own company. We could call ourselves the Rainbow Association! Or perhaps we could name ourselves?Arcs of Color Incorporated?"

  "I think not!" Gertrude said with a sniff. "We shall be called no such thing, young lady. A more sensible name for our new business venture would be Gertrude & Company."

  George had some choice thoughts on that suggestion, as did Reese, Baxter, and Jorge, but wisely kept their opinions to themselves. In turn, each one of them came up with a name for their new