Lights on the Mountain

The prickling at the back of my neck came again; it was much more distinct this time and I did not care for it. The air was too wet; the ground around me was too wet for me to be comfortable with the notion of static electricity. I was beginning to get a perspective on the thing that had made me uncomfortable in the clearing behind me. It wasn't atmosphere and brooding sentiments and unearthly mood. It was power. Electricity or thunder; I didn't give a damn which. But it was close enough for me to sense it; and that was far too close for my peace of mind. Thunder I could do little about; a hundred mega-volts at two- hundred kilo-amperes was out of my stat. I could simply head along to where I was going and hope that God didn't have his eye on me just at the offing. I wasn't aware of any particular sins that might bring down just retribution; nothing that serious anyway. And I wasn't going to dredge my soul just then either. A chap had to concentrate when he was on the job; this kind of job especially. Electricity; that was something I could deal with. That was my stat and it was something I was familiar with even the kind of electricity that made a chap's hair prickle. It might be kilo-volts and it might be on the rampage but there was going to be a main-switch somewhere close by and once that was opened the electricity would behave itself. That was the way my book of rules was written.