One glance out the
window had me straying outdoors to take in the bold view of the western sky.
The afternoon sun cast an ethereal glow across every surface, slipping over
puddles and crawling up fences. The varying greens and yellows of trees and
grass seemed enhanced and alive. Surreal.
I stepped back into the
house just long enough to grab my camera for a quick snapshot of this
unbelievably cartoon-like world, but by the time I returned the sky had
deepened to a cold slate blue. The clouds upon clouds raced one another across
the expanse. Gusts of chilled wind blew me backward, perhaps in warning, but I
persevered to the end of my driveway.
The black silhouettes of
three small birds above me caught my eye. Their little wings flapped with such
intensity against the force of the wind, but they remained stationary.
Eventually they gave in and swooped sideways and then back around to return to
some safe, dry place nowhere near their intended destination.
The white cracks of
lightning and simultaneous rumble of thunder reverberated just under my skin.
Something omniscient hovered over me in the form of a darkened raincloud. I
looked to the sky and thought of demons.
Whether or not they
were there, whether or not they intended to have me for a light afternoon
snack, I did not know, nor was I about to stick around to find out. I headed
straight for the house, calmly, so as not to attract their attention. Strong,
insistent gusts pushed me over the threshold. As soon as I slammed the door,
they began knocking on the other side.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Or maybe it was just an
ordinary, violent, summer storm.
