A Moment of Thunder

The smell of rain is different here, especially now in September when rain is unexpected. A pleasant surprise to me.

Add the thunder and lightning, uncommon for this place even in rainy season.

I stand outside on my fire escape under a ledge to stay dry. Lightning lights up the whole sky and then I count. One… two… three… four… BOOM! The ruckus clamor of thunder that is foreign here, but soothes my heart. I feel the rumble in my body vibrating, reminding me of the connection between earth and sky.

The rain quickens and is more. And for a moment I close my eyes and just listen.

My neighbor comes out to put a garbage bag over the sunroof of her car, which is stuck open slightly ajar. She looks up just as more lightning flashes in the sky. “Whoa!” she says and sees me. We chat briefly before she retreats back into her apartment.

But I stay.

I stay until I can see sun peeking through the clouds again, until the lightning stops and the thunder is no more,

and the rain slows to almost nothing and all I can hear are the splashes on the wet road, the kind only car tires make as they go driving by.

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