The Storm Watcher

He sat in his living room And cast an apprehensive look At the window Pounded by the fury Of the storm outside The elements had gone mad An unexpected storm Had blown in Out of nowhere He didn't like storms They reminded him of feeling unsafe Even though he was being held by his mother Oh, she tried to comfort him When the thunder crashed And the lightening flashed She’d put on a brave face And she'd hold him near But he could feel her body trembling And his hair getting wet from her tears Only when he was older Did he truly understand The depth of her irrational fears Her unstable mind The storms reminded him Of the storms within her That had raged furiously With no letting up Until they’d found her Sprawled on the bed The empty sleeping pill container A paper weight for her note “Forgive me…I can’t stand the storms anymore” He walked to his window And peered out He took a second look There was a young woman Battling the elements Her raincoat whipping about in the gusty wind Her long black hair Plastered to her face and shoulders Soaked by the rain that her umbrella was unable to keep out Who would be crazy enough To be out in this weather? Her books scattered And as she bent to pick them up She slipped and fell The umbrella blew away And she was left A heap on the road In the grips of the storm He wanted to help He wanted to go out there To get her to shelter But he was furious How crazy was she to be in that hopeless mess? Didn't she know better? He saw her struggle to get up Damn…he’d have to go help her He rushed out of the house Running to where she lay Before he could reach her A car pulled up and a young man bounced out... Collecting all her scattered things With one one quick motion He then scooped her up into his arms And rushed her to the car He stood there in the pouring rain As they drove away The lighting forked in the horizon The thunder crashed and boomed He turned his face up to the sky The dead thing in him moved, took a breath As the pain and hurt washed away with the rain He had stepped into the storm And for the first time In many a year He felt truly alive. Eileen Manassian Ghali