High on the koppie the old woman tends the fire again. Throwing the final fistful of grey-green herbs over the unfurling flames, she melts into the silence of the pre-dawn shadows.
The once-maiden draws her lover close. He sleeps and she rises again, the child of the new dawn.
She stands gazing over the veld to where the smudge-blue mountains melt into the velvet-black of the burgeoning storm. Earth tremors ripple over the veld, rousing her waiting feet. She grows taller, a giantess, who strides across the yellowed grasses towards the beckoning finger of lightning.
The rain-bull kneels. In a single fluid movement, the San Man straddles the great beast’s back. The rain-bull rises. Thunder erupts from his nostrils and he charges down the mountain-side, scattering huge boulders before him. The men stagger in his wake as the storm clouds unleash their fury. Flood water surges down the slopes and blankets of rain sweep the over the veld to greet the distant sea.
The storm seethes on and the parched earth groans and shudders under its weight. The two men are gathered up in the deluge, spinning in a howling whirlpool across the veld and coming to rest on the cloud-cloaked koppie.
Later, the men awake to find their companion staring into the dying fire. They rouse themselves from their herb-induced dream-time and trudge down from the koppie.
They know that soon the once-maiden will return leading a long-legged rain-cow to bring soft raindrops which will last a whole season.
This has been the story of the San Man
luna's on line 
This is an amazing story Chris. You truly have the gift of storytelling.
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What a lovely compliment! Thank you, Sadje.
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Just a wonderful section, Chris. This could stand as a piece in its own right. So much I loved about this.
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Thanks Matthew 🙂
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Bravo, Chris! Your writing conjured the most amazing images in my head–it would cost a fortune to recreate them on screen. 👏🤩
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Wow, wouldn’t that be fun!
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I need to go back to the beginning and follow this, it really interests me 👌🏾
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This has been such an interesting and rewarding experience to write, Jude. Each time I picked it up and went with the flow, the pictures in my head took me to a very special place. I might write about the experience. In the meantime, this will you back to the beginning, after which just follow the ‘to be cont..’: https://lunasonline.wordpress.com/2019/12/16/parched-earth/
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I’m all caught up, a beautifully written series
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I’m so pleased you enjoyed The San Man, Jude 🙂
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This was meticulously written. I hung on every word.
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Thank you so much, Violet 🙂 That means a lot to me.
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[…] Hall’s fantastic piece of speculative fiction ‘Summoning the Rain‘ is the latest in her San Man series. It is such an atmospheric piece of writing that you can […]
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I really love the scenery descriptions in each installment. The woman may not be a maiden, but she can manipulate the elements. The San Man, without fear, displayed his power over the beast by mounting the beast with its nostrils flaring. Great visual for me…and the men in the story. Well done Chris.
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Thanks, Darnell – as always your comments are so encouraging. I have to say that I’ve really enjoyed stepping into the world of the San Man.
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A rain-bull…such a vivid image. It carries so much sound with it as well as vision.
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Thanks Jean 🙂 Every scene was vivid in my head as I wrote this little narrative and I tried to describe using all the senses.
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