13
Fat, unyielding grey clouds
Cover the sky.
Thunder coils and strikes
A fire crackles into life somewhere in the woods
A being,
Covered in mud and sweat,
Searching for something with her hollow eyes
That she knows is not there.
She feels the dirt in between her nails
Tears start running down her face in frustration
Her sobs and wails are muffled by the powerful storm surrounding her
But it’s not as strong as the storm inside her heart.
She digs until her hands are raw and bloodied
from the stones they struck while digging through the dirt
She does not know what she is searching for
Only that it was something
She had in her virtuous youth
that it came in vibrant and unrelenting waves
And that she had lost it without realizing
And now, in her old age
As she looks around at her grey, carbon-copy of a life
She wants it once more
She wants to feel the possibilities of life.
Her aching chest spasms as she takes deep gulps of air
Between her sobs.
Quickly and with precision
Thunder strikes again
The wind flies around
Freed from its leash
It shakes tall mountains and firm trees
Driving everything in a flurry
The cold raindrops hit her drenched skin
She knows
She knows what she had and lost
By her own stupidity she had lost it
And know she was cornered and alone
In a dark, grey, pathetic life
The only thing she hears now
Is the storm around her
And the fast beating of her heart
And as if on cue a large yellow blaze strikes
And just for that second
Amidst the life-threatening frenzy
a strong crack,
That comes and goes with the thrill inside her chest
The woman falls in a heap in the eye of the storm.