Barbara Purbaugh, M.F.A. received her Masters of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Naropa University
in Boulder, CO. Her work has been published on Pittsburgh Quarterly Online and Our Town Magazine. Her novel,
Tracks, was optioned for a screenplay by Ziji Films, Hollywood, CA, and she was represented by the Coppage
Agency of Hollywood, CA. She was also the assistant writer of the short film, The Tech Know Zone. In addition,
she has won a variety of fiction and poetry awards. She can be contacted at purbaugh@comcast.net and
additional information about her can be obtained on her website www.barbarapurbaugh.com
in Boulder, CO. Her work has been published on Pittsburgh Quarterly Online and Our Town Magazine. Her novel,
Tracks, was optioned for a screenplay by Ziji Films, Hollywood, CA, and she was represented by the Coppage
Agency of Hollywood, CA. She was also the assistant writer of the short film, The Tech Know Zone. In addition,
she has won a variety of fiction and poetry awards. She can be contacted at purbaugh@comcast.net and
additional information about her can be obtained on her website www.barbarapurbaugh.com
Green Rain
Green rain was falling in Oak County, West Virginia. It was Saturday morning, April 11th. Most people were sure it
was a sign of the apocalypse, so a small crowd had gathered in the Oak Grove Baptist Church to pray and repent.
Sam O’Shay and Bob Groff were sitting in the Mountaintop Diner watching the rain fall. Sam was sure it was a
government conspiracy, and Bob knew it had something to do with an alien invasion, but Sam always thought the
government was up to something, and Bob was always waiting for aliens to appear and invade his body.
To calm everyone down, the owner of the diner, Hank St. Clair, Jr., got online and looked up weather phenomenon.
Apparently, green rain had occurred before as a result of moss trapped in a storm cloud or some such thing. This
seemed to make everyone feel a little better although Mrs. Kelly would not allow her son, Austin, to step one foot
outside the diner for fear the green rain was some sort of acid or biological weapon. The use of the term biological
weapon added fuel to the already hot debate between Bob and Sam.
Holly Nash, who was nine months pregnant, sat in the corner booth of the diner eating her 2nd helping of banana
cream pie when the green rain began to fall. She, naturally, worried about the end of the world like everyone else.
When Hank turned on the TV and there was no report of any other strange weather in the world and no report of
Oak County’s strange green rain, the people of Oak County logically concluded that this was another punishment
from God, so people in and out of the church began to think of their sins, and when their sins did not seem great
enough to cause such a horrible fate, they naturally assumed it was the sins of their neighbors that caused this
retribution from God. This, of course, led everyone to start cursing all the rotten things their neighbor had ever
done to them or to others.
Luckily, just before accusations could fly, Abel Shepherd, the defrocked preacher from The Old Tree Methodist
Church, began to wander the streets of the county seat, Oak Grove, proclaiming that everyone should prepare for
the coming of the Lord.
Everyone in the diner watched as he marched up and down the street carrying a cardboard sign streaked with green
rain.
“Damn fool should get out of the rain,” Sam muttered.
Sheriff John Addison entered quietly through the back door. Some people turned to look at him as he shook the
green rain from his coat.
“You shouldn’t bring that in here,” Mrs. Kelly shrieked grabbing Austin by his head and pulling him close to her.
“Relax,” Sheriff said. “I've been out in it since it started; it won’t hurt you.”
“You don’t know the long term effects of it,” someone muttered.
The phone rang, and everyone jumped.
Hank answered it. Everyone could hear him muttering into the phone and see
his face turn pale. He hung up the phone.
“My dad says this ain’t the first time it rained green rain in Oak County. It rained green on July 11, 1942.”
Everyone turned immediately to the back wall of the diner where 57 black and white World War II photos hung
neatly in silver frames. Oak County sent 57 young men to war and only 1 came back. Well, technically, the 57th
never made it. See the bus pulled out of the station on July 11, 1942, with all the Oak County men on it except
Hank St. Clair, Sr. who had spent the night before with Louise Lambert who was considered a loose woman. Well, he
didn’t make it to the bus station in time, so he was waiting for the next bus when The Sunshine Dairy’s delivery
truck came flying down Main Street, and a rock flew up and hit Hank St. Clair, Sr. right in the eye. He lost his eye,
and the Army didn’t want him anymore, so he was spared. Some say by the Grace of God; others said it was a
warning about sinning something about pluckin’ out your eye if it causes you to sin. But, he stayed, and the others
never came back.
Most people in Oak County considered it too great of a burden to bear that Oak County should lose so many.
Perkins County sent 112, and they only lost 10. Harlow County sent 44, and they lost 20. To lose all but one was
surely God’s punishment.
Everyone in town knew the stories of the 56 because every year they held a memorial service and told them over
and over.
The story that Mrs. Kelly liked best was the story of The McAdams twins with their wavy blond hair. They were both
great athletes; Tom was a football player, and Guy was a basketball player. They died two months apart on different
ends of the earth.
Sam O’Shay liked the story of Pee Wee Darling, a 120 lb loser with big floppy ears. He turned out to be a big war
hero and died a few months before the war ended.
Holly Nash looked at the pictures. She’d see them a thousand times, but the one that always stood out was Big Hal
Pegg. When she compared his picture to the others, she could tell he was a much bigger man. She liked the way he
seemed to be laughing, and she loved the birthmark shaped like a star on his right temple. From the memorial
service, she knew he died at Normandy.
There was a great deal of whispering about whether it was true or not that the green rain had fallen on that day in
1942. No one seemed to recall that being part of the story, but then again everyone in the diner was either too
young when it happened or not born yet.
Hank decided to call the local weather service and see if they kept a history of the weather. It was determined that
they did, and that it did indeed rain green rain on July 11, 1942, although it was not reported until the next day.
This caused everyone to be quiet for a few minutes, and then they began to call their friends and neighbors on their
cell phones. Mrs. Kelly called her sister-in-law, Evette, who was nine months pregnant. Evette was lying on the blue
couch in her living room when Mrs. Kelly called. She struggled to her feet, looked out the window at the green rain,
and then called her friend, Diane Samuels, who was sitting inside The Oak Grove Baptist Church with her head
leaning on the wooden pew of the row in front of hers begging God to forgive her for embezzling the church’s
money. Behind her, 20 year old, 7 months pregnant, Candi Finch, was praying that her baby would not look like
either of the men who could be the daddy.
Soon, everyone in Oak County knew about the strange green rain on that fateful day and this green rain now. And,
everyone agreed it was a very bad omen.
The rain fell all day. Hank gave everyone garbage bags so they could cover up and go home. Holly lived two blocks
away, and she was walking home in the fading light when the contractions started.
Across town, Evette Kelly’s water broke all over her blue couch.
The maternity ward of Oak Grove Hospital only had ten beds, and there were only 30 babies born there in the last
six months. But, by 9:00 p.m. on April 11th, it was full, and they began sending new mothers to the nearby Harlow
Hospital.
By the time, the green rain stopped at dawn on April 12th. There were 56 babies born in Oak County, WV including
Evette Kelly’s twin boys with blond wavy hair, Holly Nash’s baby girl with a birthmark shaped like a tiny star on her
right temple, and the last baby born before the green rain stopped was little Darling Finch who arrived in the world
two months early with the largest ears ever seen in Oak County, WV.
The Weather Service would say the rain came from that moss trapped in that storm cloud, but everyone in Oak
County, WV knew it was just the boys coming home.
Green rain was falling in Oak County, West Virginia. It was Saturday morning, April 11th. Most people were sure it
was a sign of the apocalypse, so a small crowd had gathered in the Oak Grove Baptist Church to pray and repent.
Sam O’Shay and Bob Groff were sitting in the Mountaintop Diner watching the rain fall. Sam was sure it was a
government conspiracy, and Bob knew it had something to do with an alien invasion, but Sam always thought the
government was up to something, and Bob was always waiting for aliens to appear and invade his body.
To calm everyone down, the owner of the diner, Hank St. Clair, Jr., got online and looked up weather phenomenon.
Apparently, green rain had occurred before as a result of moss trapped in a storm cloud or some such thing. This
seemed to make everyone feel a little better although Mrs. Kelly would not allow her son, Austin, to step one foot
outside the diner for fear the green rain was some sort of acid or biological weapon. The use of the term biological
weapon added fuel to the already hot debate between Bob and Sam.
Holly Nash, who was nine months pregnant, sat in the corner booth of the diner eating her 2nd helping of banana
cream pie when the green rain began to fall. She, naturally, worried about the end of the world like everyone else.
When Hank turned on the TV and there was no report of any other strange weather in the world and no report of
Oak County’s strange green rain, the people of Oak County logically concluded that this was another punishment
from God, so people in and out of the church began to think of their sins, and when their sins did not seem great
enough to cause such a horrible fate, they naturally assumed it was the sins of their neighbors that caused this
retribution from God. This, of course, led everyone to start cursing all the rotten things their neighbor had ever
done to them or to others.
Luckily, just before accusations could fly, Abel Shepherd, the defrocked preacher from The Old Tree Methodist
Church, began to wander the streets of the county seat, Oak Grove, proclaiming that everyone should prepare for
the coming of the Lord.
Everyone in the diner watched as he marched up and down the street carrying a cardboard sign streaked with green
rain.
“Damn fool should get out of the rain,” Sam muttered.
Sheriff John Addison entered quietly through the back door. Some people turned to look at him as he shook the
green rain from his coat.
“You shouldn’t bring that in here,” Mrs. Kelly shrieked grabbing Austin by his head and pulling him close to her.
“Relax,” Sheriff said. “I've been out in it since it started; it won’t hurt you.”
“You don’t know the long term effects of it,” someone muttered.
The phone rang, and everyone jumped.
Hank answered it. Everyone could hear him muttering into the phone and see
his face turn pale. He hung up the phone.
“My dad says this ain’t the first time it rained green rain in Oak County. It rained green on July 11, 1942.”
Everyone turned immediately to the back wall of the diner where 57 black and white World War II photos hung
neatly in silver frames. Oak County sent 57 young men to war and only 1 came back. Well, technically, the 57th
never made it. See the bus pulled out of the station on July 11, 1942, with all the Oak County men on it except
Hank St. Clair, Sr. who had spent the night before with Louise Lambert who was considered a loose woman. Well, he
didn’t make it to the bus station in time, so he was waiting for the next bus when The Sunshine Dairy’s delivery
truck came flying down Main Street, and a rock flew up and hit Hank St. Clair, Sr. right in the eye. He lost his eye,
and the Army didn’t want him anymore, so he was spared. Some say by the Grace of God; others said it was a
warning about sinning something about pluckin’ out your eye if it causes you to sin. But, he stayed, and the others
never came back.
Most people in Oak County considered it too great of a burden to bear that Oak County should lose so many.
Perkins County sent 112, and they only lost 10. Harlow County sent 44, and they lost 20. To lose all but one was
surely God’s punishment.
Everyone in town knew the stories of the 56 because every year they held a memorial service and told them over
and over.
The story that Mrs. Kelly liked best was the story of The McAdams twins with their wavy blond hair. They were both
great athletes; Tom was a football player, and Guy was a basketball player. They died two months apart on different
ends of the earth.
Sam O’Shay liked the story of Pee Wee Darling, a 120 lb loser with big floppy ears. He turned out to be a big war
hero and died a few months before the war ended.
Holly Nash looked at the pictures. She’d see them a thousand times, but the one that always stood out was Big Hal
Pegg. When she compared his picture to the others, she could tell he was a much bigger man. She liked the way he
seemed to be laughing, and she loved the birthmark shaped like a star on his right temple. From the memorial
service, she knew he died at Normandy.
There was a great deal of whispering about whether it was true or not that the green rain had fallen on that day in
1942. No one seemed to recall that being part of the story, but then again everyone in the diner was either too
young when it happened or not born yet.
Hank decided to call the local weather service and see if they kept a history of the weather. It was determined that
they did, and that it did indeed rain green rain on July 11, 1942, although it was not reported until the next day.
This caused everyone to be quiet for a few minutes, and then they began to call their friends and neighbors on their
cell phones. Mrs. Kelly called her sister-in-law, Evette, who was nine months pregnant. Evette was lying on the blue
couch in her living room when Mrs. Kelly called. She struggled to her feet, looked out the window at the green rain,
and then called her friend, Diane Samuels, who was sitting inside The Oak Grove Baptist Church with her head
leaning on the wooden pew of the row in front of hers begging God to forgive her for embezzling the church’s
money. Behind her, 20 year old, 7 months pregnant, Candi Finch, was praying that her baby would not look like
either of the men who could be the daddy.
Soon, everyone in Oak County knew about the strange green rain on that fateful day and this green rain now. And,
everyone agreed it was a very bad omen.
The rain fell all day. Hank gave everyone garbage bags so they could cover up and go home. Holly lived two blocks
away, and she was walking home in the fading light when the contractions started.
Across town, Evette Kelly’s water broke all over her blue couch.
The maternity ward of Oak Grove Hospital only had ten beds, and there were only 30 babies born there in the last
six months. But, by 9:00 p.m. on April 11th, it was full, and they began sending new mothers to the nearby Harlow
Hospital.
By the time, the green rain stopped at dawn on April 12th. There were 56 babies born in Oak County, WV including
Evette Kelly’s twin boys with blond wavy hair, Holly Nash’s baby girl with a birthmark shaped like a tiny star on her
right temple, and the last baby born before the green rain stopped was little Darling Finch who arrived in the world
two months early with the largest ears ever seen in Oak County, WV.
The Weather Service would say the rain came from that moss trapped in that storm cloud, but everyone in Oak
County, WV knew it was just the boys coming home.
Barbara Purbaugh
