Henry’s Storm Sounds

Henry and Lily are making music for a storm in their class story. Henry chooses a hand drum for thunder. Lily turns a rain stick slowly. They listen to its soft rushing sound before they begin.

Henry taps loudly from the start. Lily turns the rain stick faster, trying to be heard. Soon every sound is strong. When their pretend storm ends, Mr Cole asks where the first little drops were.

Henry thinks back to yesterday’s rain. A few drops had tapped the window before the heavy shower. “We started in the middle,” he says. Lily puts the rain stick down so they can plan a beginning.

They try quiet finger taps on the drum. Then Lily adds one slow turn of the rain stick. Henry leaves spaces between his taps. Now the sound seems to be arriving from a long way off.

For the middle, Henry makes a steady beat and gradually grows louder. Lily lifts the rain stick so she can turn it smoothly. They agree on a raised hand to show when the loudest part should stop.

During their next try, Henry does not see Lily’s raised hand and carries on. He stops, looking embarrassed. “I was watching my drum,” he says. They move their seats so they can see one another as well as their instruments.

This time, the storm swells, then fades. Henry brushes the drum softly while Lily makes a final trickle of rain. They wait together through a short silence. Nobody needs to fill it with another sound.

The class hears their storm before seeing the instruments. Someone imagines rain on a roof; someone else thinks of trees. Henry likes both ideas. He raises his hand to Lily, and they begin again with just a few quiet drops.