After The Rain - By Max du Toit

Written By: Max du Toit

Category: Short Story

Competition: Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026

Max du Toit presents "After The Rain," a compelling short story contribution to the Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026. Set in the serene and untamed countryside, this narrative captures the reader's imagination with its rich depiction of nature and the unexpected encounters it holds. Through Max's storytelling, we are invited to explore a world where the beauty and unpredictability of the natural environment are intertwined, highlighting the delicate balance between tranquility and the wild.

About the Work

"After The Rain" is a vivid exploration of nature's raw beauty and the unforeseen moments it offers. Max du Toit's narrative is imbued with striking imagery and a gentle yet suspenseful mood, as it follows a tourist's quiet exploration of the veld. The story is rich with sensory detail, capturing the essence of the landscape and the sudden thrill of an unexpected encounter with wildlife. It reflects on themes of discovery and the transient nature of human impressions upon the natural world.

After The Rain

Original Submission by Max du Toit

After The Rain

The veld hissed and crackled like a broken radio. The sun had risen, and the rocks were still cold in the early morning.

Insects took flight from the flowering grasses as the tourist walked past.

He walked slowly. There was no need to rush. The tour guides in their green khaki trousers and their green khaki cars were not due for over an hour.

The air-conditioned chalets and the huge, canvas tents, also air-conditioned, shrank behind him as he strolled through the thick scrub.

He arrived at a rock. It was large and flat, and its surface that smooth, almost glossy black of dolerite that has been weathered by sunrises and rainfalls. Smooth and black, except where lichen sprawled in its patchy camouflage of powdery green, and white, and yellow.

He sat next to one of the patches and brought out his sketchbook and pen.

The horizon lay, outstretched, before him, lazing under the sun. The air was dustless after the rain, and each distant tree and still distanter hill rested in perfect resolution.

His pen outlined how the sky slept languidly on the earth and caught the far swaths with half-smudged lines. A few careful strokes, a swirl of half circles, and some grass tufts lifting their inflorescenced stalks suggested what the smudged lines behind them could not.

To his left, a bird started chirping. He smiled and continued with the soft shape of a fallen branch.

The bird continued, louder.

He twisted to seek the source of the clatter. Behind him, he heard a long, rasping hiss.

Turning slowly, he saw only the lichen. Then, in the middle, it melted out from the powdery colours.

Deeper than the thin greens of the lichen or the grass were its scales. More than the jagged horizon was it smoothly, sensuously curved. And its eyes glittered more blackly than the rock upon which it rested.

It swelled, and the great, rasping hiss exhaled again from its mouth.

It flicked its tongue and he leaped back, the pen and sketchbook falling to the ground.

It hissed a third time and he ran.

The coarse bushes scratched his legs, and he stumbled over fallen branches. He did not stop until he had reached the air-conditioned camp.

At the rock, the puffadder settled into its place.

And when, a few days later, the rain came again, and the tours were postponed and people sat in their rooms drinking tea and reading wildlife manuals, the ink ran from the tourist’s pages, and his curving horizons and smudgy grasses were lost to the hard, gritty sand.

About the Competition

The Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026 by Hashtag Kalakar is a prestigious platform for writers and poets worldwide, celebrating diverse voices and creative expression. Participants across the globe are encouraged to share their unique perspectives through poetry and prose, contributing to a vibrant tapestry of storytelling. This competition is a testament to the power of words in connecting cultures and exploring the human experience.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Max du Toit for sharing "After The Rain" with us in the Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026. Your evocative storytelling and vivid imagery provide a remarkable glimpse into the intersection of humanity and nature. We are grateful for the opportunity to feature your work and look forward to your future literary contributions.

About Hashtag Kalakar

Hashtag Kalakar is a creative platform dedicated to providing artists, writers, singers and other creative talents with opportunities to showcase their work and reach wider audiences through competitions, features and creative initiatives.