See more rain harvesting ideas.

This brings to mind a ghibli-esque backgroubd scene of animated characters going about their slow lives, baking in the heat of the day. ☆ Some sidekick character child keeps dutifully preparing a water capture pond, their toddler sibling placing a bucket out under the corner of an awning in support. They nod at each other while nearby adults shake their heads and play cards, dominos, whatever. "Not gonna rain today, kiddo.. dry season"

This and other scenes are interspersed in the story, all in the background. Some elder person with one of those floating glass bauble thermometers and brass air pressure monitors sits knitting/writing/reading and listening to a weather report and looking out their window over to a far off hill.

On the hill is a cottage or half collapsed concrete building, depending on setting. Make it function over form. Not meant to be pretty, just a useful collection of structure, yet somehow still charming. It's a hodge-podge of equipment, satellite dishes, wires, solar panels and a tiny car/truck/bike plugged into the panels. All surrounded by junk and rusted machines outside.

Inside is just as messy, a chalkboard or white board with a local region map with sweeping curved lines scribbled on with an alternative color drawn over it. Question marks and ecclamation points also scribbled on the board around this alteration. On a table or desk is a screen flickering with a blinking cursor with "waiting" flashing off and on.

Then, a quiet shot of the messy room, half-eaten food on plates, the scene of a seemingly mad-scientist... and another of those glass bauble thermometers.

We see our scientist through the liquids. Their eyes intently dart between watching one of the temperature markers and looking at a similar brass air pressure monitor. Their foot taps in annoyance, they sigh and begin to move away to double check the computer, just as the needle on the air pressure monitor begins to wiggle and move over towards "RAIN". The waiting computer beeps and data begins scrolling down the screen, the scientist grabs a bodged together tablet pc from its cradle next to the machine and exclaims excitedly as they rush out the door.

As they leave, the readout on the computer becomes clear, it's a satellite feed of weather data, updating to show blobs of incoming precipitation developing and crossing over the city region, neatly matching the scribbles shown on the maps earlier in the scene. A final shot of the room through the thermometer showing the temperature changing as the glass baubles change position.

Outside, they're shown driving/riding their electric vehicle down the hill and towards town, shouting at passers-by.

The prior shown elder person sees them rushing towards town from their window and alertedly glances a double-take at their own weather devices, the air pressure needle point towards "rain" and the temperature changing. They drop what they were doing (literally) and rush outside.

The adults playing games that previously admonished the children are alarmed to see the elderly neighbor rush outside. The neighbor is shouting to everyone "rain coming. Quickly, quickly, make ready!" The elder stops and nods to the children politely "good job, you're all ready" and then they collect up some items (rolls of tarpaulin, ropes, and buckets) and turn to rush up the exterior stairs of their building.

The prior scenes of slow daily life are shown again, this time with action and bustle as people rush out from their jobs, people in suit pants and shirts un-tucked, families, factory workers, everyone from all layers of this society are all rushing about to lay out water capture devices. Anywhere with flat area, sports fields, parking lots, rooftops. People are opening inverted umbrellas, connecting hoses, and guiding water to large hookups nearby to each group. The large brass hookups read "water storage" or other translations of the same in languages unique to each area of the city.

The city itself has come alive to drink up and store as much as it is able.

On the outskirts of the city, groups of people are dragging massive tarpaulins and pumping air into bladders to create self-lifting water catchment basins across highways. All cars and trucks are stopped and moved aside.

The scientist stops by the building with the elderly character from before, giving an acknowledgment to the children before climbing the stairs to the roof and giving the elderly person a hug. They pull out their battered tablet pc and show the readout seen earlier on the computer screen. "Here it comes." Just as the first drops of rain splatter onto the screen.

The world is dropped into a quiet hush as the first "pit- pat- pit" of falling rain begins.. eventually increasing to a deluge complete with thunder and flashes of lightning.

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