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The cloud is pregnant. Let's get going to beat the rain. I called on my wife who was in a nearby bush fetching firewood. 

Joy was seated close to the fire that we earlier used to prepare our lunch. I stood outside the farmstead viewing the situation of the cloud while waiting for my wife to get set for us to leave. 

The dark part of the cloud spread in minutes and it dawned on us that we couldn't beat the rain for the 40 minutes journey home. After a few minutes as expected, the rain approached from the East with a full force. My wife ran to our farmstead with some firewoods. 

"I don't know why you like wasting time in this manner. Must you fetch firewoods everyday? We have been caught up in the rain now." I complained about her delay. 

"Darling, I have just spent about 15 minutes while fetching the firewoods. I think I deserve commendation for making us remain here by this time. We would be beaten blue black by the rain if we had embarked on the journey shortly before now." She replied.
 
"You are right. Let's hope that this is not the kind of rain that falls till late in the night."
 
We sat on a flat wooden seat, waiting for when the rain which had started falling intensely would stop for us to take our leave.
 
Joy's hands were shaking with her teeth chattering. She sat at a very close proximity to the fire. 

"Why did you put on a sleeveless hoodie? Where is your cardigan?" I asked.

"I left it at home," she responded. 

At this juncture, the rain was falling so heavily that I was praying not to see our farmstead collapse. I felt rain droplets on my back where I was sitting. I remembered that I hadn't fixed the part of the roof that was leaking. I picked a bucket to collect the water.

There was calmness and quietness owing to the weather and the heavy rain accompanied by icefall.
As the rainfall continued, the sky began to go darker as if another heavier rain was preparing. I was becoming tense about when we would be released to go home. 

Then, lightning came like a spark of opposing electrical wires. It covered everywhere, making every living creature in our vicinity scared. Our dog hurriedly stood up from where he was lying down and ran to me wagging its tail. The chickens frighteningly changed position. The lightning was very unusual. Before we could settle from the fear, a loud thunder was heard with another lightning moving across, very close to us. This was the first time that I am experiencing something of that nature.
 
The situation began to improve to allow us to move after the thunder. In a few minutes, the rain became a light one that we could put our heads to trek back home. 

"Since the soil will be muddy and everywhere is wet, you have to leave your firewood till another day." I told my wife. 

I carried Joy on my shoulder and proceeded.

"Dear, no foodstuffs at home to prepare for our dinner." She reminded me.

"Oooh, let me get two tubers of yam. Tomorrow we will harvest more conveniently."
 
"Get down Joy." I dropped her down, picked my cutlass to quickly harvest the yam. 

I reached out to the first two rows of my farm and there I remembered that a thief had visited when it previously rained without my presence in the farm. It was a menace that all of us farmers in the area were facing. 

"Who is this thief?" No one knew. 

I got the two tubers and we proceeded on our movement. 

Joy was fast asleep on my shoulder. On my hand was a stick to shake off the water on the leaves along our path before walking through to avoid our dresses being drenched in it. 
Joy tapped me after waking up that she wanted to pee. I put her down immediately for her to do that. My wife followed suit by dropping the yam on her head to pee also. 

"Darling... Come please," she called on me from where she was squatting down. 

"Ooohhh!!! What's that again? The day is getting dark please. Let's go, this woman."
 
She insisted that I come and I reluctantly moved to her direction to know why she was calling me.
 
"Can you hear the voice coming from this direction?" She pointed to a nearby yam farm. 

I put down my ears and I heard someone calling for help in distress.
 
"Please help, I am dying." A male voice was heard pleading. 

"I need to check on this man. I think he is in dire need of assistance." I remarked.
 
My wife was skeptical in allowing me to go. 

"One needs to be careful. This may be a tactic for the bad people to attack." She differed with me. 

I was determined to check on the man whose voice was going down by minutes. He was obviously becoming weaker. I took my cutlass and moved around the farm to enter from another direction in order to study the situation. As I was moving across the farm, I saw a motorcycle parked under a tree with a basket behind it. I moved forward a little and found some freshly harvested yams. Then the man sighted me and called for help yet again from where she was lying down. 

I got there and met the man lying on his chest. I turned him over and identified him immediately.

"Ola, what are you looking for? Is this your farm?"

"I was struck by lightning. Please help me."

"You will die here, you thief." I left angrily to meet my wife and daughter by the roadside. 

"That thief will die there, let's go." I instructed my wife after explaining the whole thing to her.
 
"Dear, let's help him. He can be arrested to pay for all that had been stolen from people's farms in this area after getting on his feet. Let's help him to safety first." My wife pleaded. 

I went back to where the man was lying and carried him up. Luckily enough that I know how to ride a motorcycle. I carried him and sat him down, with the help of my wife, behind me on his motorcycle. He was able to hold me firmly while I rode him to the hospital. 

My wife held Joy's hand and they trekked home from that point. 

I took Ola to the hospital where he was revived after a few hours. I met the doctor and explained everything to him and we decided to involve the police from that point. 

"I am sorry for my actions. I came to steal yams with the usual expectation that everyone had gone back home due to the rain." He confessed and pleaded. 

"So, when rain is falling that every farmer is returning home, that's your best time to go to their farm and steal their yams. You are wicked." I interrupted him.
 
He continued pleading and when questioned further, he named other members of his syndicate.
 
"For the fact that my victim saved me from the point of death, this is another opportunity given to me to change and be of good habits. I am sorry."
 
This statement confirmed to me that he was the one that stole my yam the previous time that rain fell in like manner. 

The police took his statement and promised to launch an investigation and possibly charge him to court after recuperation. He was restricted to the hospital and to be charged to court upon his discharge from the hospital. 

It was a sigh of relief for us in that area that at last, lightning has helped us to expose the thief that was tormenting us.</div>