October 31st: It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

 
In a dark room, a turnip lantern sits on a shiny table (from which its candlelight is reflected). The lantern has pointy teeth, and is looking to its right. Overlaid text: "#drabbletober".
 

Day 31 - the final day - of my drabble-a-day challenge! Here is today’s drabble:

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

"You get forty miles even after the light comes on. It's only twenty across the moor. We'll be fine."

Alex peered out the window. "Uh... risking it on a dark moor? in a storm? on Halloween? Isn't that asking for trouble?"

Robin laughed. "Don't worry. If there's one thing the gods of narrative hate, it's a cliché."

"You know them personally?"

"I'm an author. Practically on first name terms."

They pressed on, driving between wild, wet streaks of lightning. A tree crashed across the road. The engine died.

The one thing the gods of narrative really hate is a smartarse.

It is a dark and stormy night.

I mean, it’s dark (obviously, it’s nearly midnight) and it’s windy and it’s chucking it down. No thunder or lightning, though we do have a Met Office “yellow warning” for rain.

But it’s Halloween, and there are certain traditions to be observed.

It is a dark and stormy night.