Twas' a Weird Feeling,

Last night in the junction between evening and night she pulled up into the driveway and let the engine run for a few seconds, pausing to enjoy the air conditioning. She took a deep breath and let her hand linger on the car door not wanting to leave the stillness it provided. As the door swung open, the escapable heat of the past few weeks swept in to meet her. She hurried out, ducking her head against the whipping wind that was already carrying raindrops.

Somewhere not very far away lightning struck and thunder cracked instantaneously against the sky. She quickened her steps up the stairs, feeling a familiar panic begin to build.

Her hand, unfamiliar with the need to unlock the door fumbled uncertainly as it slid the key into the lock. The stale air of the living room was easy to breath and she paused in the light of the overhead lamp as it flickered with another peal of thunder.

For longer then necessary she turned on no other lights. She walked slowly and deliberately to the kitchen and stared out of the sliding glass doors. The storm was coming with intensity and it was welcome though inconveniently timed. She stared passed her reflection in the glass and watched the trees bend and sway.

Another crackle of lightning struck behind a far off hill.

Absentmindedly she ran her hand through her hair. It was longer then she usually kept it and she could feel it land against her elbows when she hitched her hands on her hips. It felt dry and dead from the sun and chlorine, as it would until September when summer would end.

As she watched the storm approach she felt the fear she normally worked so hard to control rise up in her chest, but it was more of an impulse then anything. Usually in the summer she could ignore the fear a bit better then this, she could focus on the sunlight and the way it danced on the water. She could fill the in between moments with laughter and push the fear away until it stopped trying to get her attention.

As she watched the storm turn the sky different colors, she thought of the lights that were not turned on behind her. She thought of the things that could be hiding in the shadows. She thought of the way the light had probably slanted throughout the afternoon and then the walls had dimmed as night fell. She thought there might be something important there, but she was at a loss for learning lessons while she was alone.

The sky finally broke and she turned away from the door. She missed the lightning but heard the thunder that made the light flicker in the living room. She grabbed the flashlight from the pantry just in case.

For the first time in a long time, she wished for autumn. This summer was hot and unfamiliar and she wished for the stillness that the passing of the trees would bring.