The Storm~ A Short Story by Rachel Allen

It’s late, almost 10:00 pm. I glance out my window at the brewing storm. The town is covered in a wispy haze, like fog. Frost covers the window, frozen steam clinging to the glass. The sky is marbled and, if possible, the gathering clouds make the night sky even darker. I can hear the wind howling, tearing at the trees. I watch the sky throw a hissy fit until I drift off…

…into a nightmare. I’m surrounded by chaos. Lightning flashes all around me, and thunder crashes in my ears. The wind is blowing so hard the walls of the house seem to bend to its will. Trees are toppling over all around me, torn from the solid ground they’ve stood I for many years. Lightning flashes again, thunder rumbles across the sky, and it starts to rain. The water falls in ice-cold torrents, and I gasp as it chills me straight to the bone. I look up into the sheets of liquid ice. The clouds are an angry, swirling mass, and the eye of the storm is focused on me.

I blink, and suddenly they are there. They’re all there. My boyfriend, asking me why I was cheating on him. My two best friends, asking me which one of them I like more. My parents, asking me why I’m failing three of my classes. My track coach, asking me why I’ve been late for practice. All of them are yelling at me at once. I try to scream, but the sound is ripped from my throat by the roaring wind. There’s a flash of lightning behind me. I turn around to the sound of thunder just in time to see the lightning strike at the base of a tree. There’s a tortured groan, a hideous cracking noise, and it begins to fall, straight towards me. I open my mouth to scream as loud as I can…

…and wake up, breathing hard, heart pounding. I look around the room and hug a pillow to my chest like a frightened child, assuring myself that I am, in fact, awake. I tentatively reach at and push the curtain over my window aside. Lightning strikes in the distance and rain hits the window pane angrily. The storm is still outside, and outside it remains.

For now.

Photograph Property of 'Lilies Among Thorns Magazine'. Photograph taken by Jess Mc.