When someone says it’s raining cats and dogs, they don’t mean that cats and dogs are falling from the sky. That is another way of saying that the rain is extremely heavy. But since time began, there have been reports of things stranger than cats or dogs raining down from the sky. Of course, cats and dogs falling from the sky would definitely classify as weird.
On July 12, 1873, in Kansas City, Missouri, there was a thunderstorm that delivered more than rain; frogs dropped from the sky.
On February 6, 1989, sardines came down with a light rain over roughly two acres of land in Rosewood near Ipswich, Australia.
There have been several reports of it raining frogs or various sizes of fish, but there have also been reports of fish eggs, periwinkles (little edible snails), hermit crabs, one squid that reportedly hit a Korean fisherman on the head and knocked him out, kernels of corn, corn husks, and even one-foot long alligators.
A shower of frogs or fish or any animal would definitely not be refreshing. A shower of fish eggs would be gross. But what about showers of flesh and blood? Has such a thing ever happened? Yes.
In Messignadi, Calabria in Italy on May 15, 1890, bird’s blood rained down. It is thought that maybe the birds had been caught in such violent winds that they were ripped apart. But there were no reports of such winds at the time, and no other parts of the birds rained down—no bones, feathers, or flesh.
On August 1, 1869, not only did blood rain down, but this time, flesh rained down with it onto the farm of J. Hudson in Los Nietos Township, California. It has been suggested that buzzards flying over his farm were sloppy eaters and lost hold on their food, but this shower of flesh and blood lasted for three minutes!
Writing Prompts
What strange rains can you think of to include in a story?
What would you have rain down and interrupt an outdoor tea party on an otherwise beautiful spring day? Periwinkles and hermit crabs? Fish? Flesh and blood? Frogs? Alligators? What would be the reaction of the prim and proper socialites to each of these?
Or this outdoor tea party could be attended by little girls. How horrified would they be?
If children were outdoors playing and it began to rain frogs, they would probably try to catch all the frogs. Of course, there would be at least one who thought frogs were gross.
What do you think caused flesh and blood to rain down on that farm in California for three minutes? Carnivorous birds? Hungry aliens? Group of space monsters? A rain shower of flesh and blood would make a great beginning for a horror story.
Your rain could also be filled with deadly chemicals. This deadly rain could burn and melt the skin when it made contact. This rain could contain pathogens that made everyone it landed on sick.
Your deadly rain could even have sharp objects in it that shredded the skin of those it hit.
Or you could make your strange rain one that is delightful. That group of children playing outdoors would love it if it started raining chocolate milk, Kool-Aid, or pop. Of course, their moms wouldn’t be happy about it. Can you imagine the condition it would leave their clothes in?
Once you’ve determined what kind of strange rain you will have in your story, decide where it came from. Having an explanation for where this strange rain came from will only make your story stronger no matter how far-out and crazy it is.
