Summer (a short story)

It was so hot, even the scorpions were scurrying for cover.  The baked earth cracked under the heat and shimmered in the distance.

There was no comfort offered from clouds. The sky was as clear as glass.

He stood on his perch, surveying the ground around him. A single weed fought for sustenance, but it was loosing its battle and curling up as it withered and died. This was not a good summer.

The autumn had brought rain, so heavy at times that the earth could no longer soak it up. Rivers of red ran over the field, poured into the road and disappeared down storm drains. And when the winter had come, it had brought snow and ice that solidified the ground and hidden it in a blanket of white.

Spring was more forgiving. The farmers had talked of a good harvest, and the gentle sun thawed the earth and gave life to seeds. Acres of corn spread out before him, and his job had been hard with the wildlife that was attracted.

When the April showers stopped, things changed. Day by day, the temperature rose and the crops began to die. They had already drawn from the earth what little moisture it held, and when the water had gone, so had their future.

Now there was just baked earth left. For sixty days, the heat had held fast. The farmer was heard saying that the worst draught in history had only be forty two days. He hadn't been able to protect his crop.

The scarcrow looked down to his ground, the sweltering heat had baked his rags to a crisp around his straw body. He creaked when he moved. He longed for the rain as much as the earth did. It would wash away his stiffness and soak him through. His straw would once again expand and his breathing would be easy again. The sun was killing the ground just as it was killing him.

Twelve days later, when the rain finally arrived, it came with such force that the scarcrow was ripped from his porch. Being laid out on the floor, his body soaked up the water, but there was no longer any life in him to revive. As the torents of water streamed over the hard baked ground, slipping through the cracks to the softer earth deep below, life was beginning again. The earth would come back.

But for him, there was nothing. His time was over, and he had returned to the ground from where he came.

Review of Ronseal Grout Cleaner

Overview: Use Cilit Bang and grout whitener unless you have Mr T or Superman around for lunch....

This stuff does do 'exactly as it says on the tin', but fails to warn you that you need arm muscles like Mr T and rubber gloves which are suitable for handling nuclear waste...

The issues:
1. The applicator is utterly unsuitable. The product has the consistency of runny snot, and therefore the arm of a small child would be more suitable to apply it to the grout. Instead, you have to squeeze it through the tube that has hard bristles on the end. This means that it is far more likely to run up your arm than down the wall.
2. The bristles on the brush are very hard (you'll find out why in a moment). It is also quite a wide brush. In my humble experience, lines of grout are never more than an inch thick... so during application, more of the product goes on the tiles than on the grout.
3. It smells like the inside of a hairdressers during pensioners day. Blue rinse and peroxide ahoy!!! I advise windows open, peg for nose and an oxygen mask.
4. Once runny snot is applied to wall, leave for 5 minutes,  then use the brush to scrub the grout. This, by no means, is an easy feat. This is where Mr T needs to come knocking on the door. The difficulty also lies in the brush being attached to the tube. As you scrub, more runny snot comes out. In the end, I removed the brush to use it seperately.
6. The hard bristles remind me of the wire floor srubbing brushes than my nan used to use on the concrete door step. In fact, one of those brushes would have been ideal to use!

So, after the trial and tribulations above, what are the results?
Not bad! When scrubbing, you can see the muck bribbling away, and when washed away, the tiles are gleaming! But in todays world of quick and easy products, this scores a zero for speed and easiness! It did clean the grout though.
Would I use it again?
No. I'd Cilit Bang the tiles, then buy grout whitener as it is easier, quicker and actually gives a much better result...

Ronseal, this product has a lot of potential, but really needs to be redesigned for an easier application. A seperate applicator and brush (or wire Brillo style sponge?) would make it much more user friendly!

Mr T and childs arms will no longer be needed, thank you!