Mr. Smith, Mr. Terle, and Mr. Fremley live in a hotel in the heat of Arizona. Terle owns the hotel, which is located in a ghost town, and has long since stopped receiving guests; besides his two residents. The three have nothing to do all day besides be hot, and they wait all year long for January 29th, the one day that it has rained every year since the year Terle was born. When the day comes and goes, dry as a bone, the trio begin to lose faith, and Mr. Smith packs his bags and vows to go someplace where it rains constantly, though Terle convinces him to stay at least until midnight, when it may rain. In the distance, a car sputters down the road and finally comes to a stop in front of the hotel. Blanche Hilgood introduces herself to the men, and says she is trying to get to California from Iowa, but her car appears to be done for. Ferle offers her a complimentary room, and says that he will drive her to town the next day. The group has dinner, and Blanche explains her story,. She is a music teacher from a small town, and no one ever appreciated or listened to her. Blanche says that she decided to leave when she finally realized that no one had listened to her her whole life, and they had no intention to start. In California, she would find an audience to play for. To repay the group for their hospitality, Blanche insists that she play for them, and pulls out a harp. At once, it is as though the rain has begun, and the trio relish in the sounds and imagine a storm above. Blanche chooses to stay at the hotel, where she gives the men their rain, and they give her an audience.