In the midst of a quiet dream, I heard what sounded like someone turning my front door knob, who (unable to get in) then stomped across the porch floor; whereupon, this unknown, unseen visitor rattled the window beneath my room. In the cotton-wool-logic state of my sleeping mind, I thought something was wrong with daughter or grandson and called out to them, two or three times, each time less heartily than before. I know I awoke enough to roll over and look at the bedside clock. My mind, rapidly returning to full sleep mode, registered that it was 2:30 AM. As I rolled back over, Brain said, “You don’t have a knob on your front door.”
“Oh, yes,” I replied, then sank into darkness.
Shortly before 4:43 AM (when next I looked at the clock), a bomb went off in the street below. This time, I was almost fully awake when I heard the hissing of the next incoming shell. Bright light illuminated the walls as if every light in the house were now in my room. Nearly at the same time, and we’re talking increments of a second here, the windows rattled fiercely and the walls reverberated horrendously. Shaking the last of the cotton-wool from my head, I looked at the clock again; still 4:43.
“Nice of you to join me,” Brain said. She can be so sarcastic at times.
“What’s…?”
“Thunderstorm, dolt. And from the sounds of it, a real doozey. Get your flashlight.”
By the time I found my flashlight, Brain and I were fully integrated; well, nearly so. The Rubik’s Cube® section of my mind had restored events from the last waking memory, and I realized the sounds which had stirred me almost awake earlier must also have been…
“That’s right, another storm.” Oh, shut up!
Downstairs now, I turned on the computer to check the weather report for this area. Thunderstorms were forecast from now through most of the coming afternoon.
Flash, flicker. Ka-BO-O-O-M!
Backup battery/surge protector began bleating, its high-pitched warning buzzing in my ears. I shut down the computer and stumbled back up to bed.
Flash. Boom. FLASH! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
The last time a storm went through here, the serviceberry at the gate fell across the alley. I could hardly wait to see what this storm will bring.
