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
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