Summer Memory
One of the prompts for the Women's Writing Circle was to write about a summer memory. This was the first time that I responded in prose. The memory inspired more of a metaphor for life than the prompt called for, but I was quite pleased with the results...
A storm rolls in, clouds so thick and dark that they block the daylight. The flashes and streaks of lightning brighten the sky as only they can now. But the thunder. The terrible crashing thunder boomSs overhead like a teenager on a new drum set. It scares the little girl and she runs to her daddy. He's big and strong, and he loves her and protects her. She'll be safe there.
What he doesn't do, though, is let her be scared. He doesn't shush and baby her, rock her and hold her. Not for long anyway. He takes her to the kitchen and gets two empty milk gallon bottles, and proceeds to explain thunder.
"Pretend these are two cloud in a storm," he says. "The wind in the storm blows the clouds together and they crash into one another." He claps the two bottles together like cymbals. Crash! "That's all thunder is, Tricia Tricia. Two clouds running into each other." She looks at him skeptically at first, but with the trust and innocence of youth on his side, he wins her over. It's not even close to what thunder is, but she feels better.
She'll tell her little boys the same story of thunder when she is older. But for now, she finds comfort in her daddy's arms, and peace in the power of the storm. She doesn't even know what that means yet, but she already feels it. He takes her out on the carport and she hits in his lap and thet watch the storm together. The view to the backyard and the field behind is picture perfect. Rai pierces down from the clouds like hot needles. The thunder continues to pound and the lightning streaks through the air as the storm battles with the atmosphere. They count the seconds between crash and flash and figure out how far away the storm is.
Gradually, the rain slows. The seconds between flash and crash increase. Clouds lighten and thin. A crack forms in the clouds where the first rays of sunlight peak through. Will there be a rainbow? She watches expectantly for one.
There will be more storms in her life. Cancer will crash into her life as it takes aim at her mother. Her father is there for the family, not knowing what to do, but doing exactly what he should. A rainbow at the end of that storm fortifies her for future storms. The gentle rain of marriage will be brightened by the flash of children. Another storm gathers as cancer once again threatens her family, her husband. This time it builds slowly, silently, and threatens the future of her children. Again, her parents are there to support her, not coddle her. They know she has to be strong; she has to find the rainbow for her children. Luck and rainbows are on her side once again.
Life goes on like a gentle rain. Flashes of new life and change punctuate it. Bad news crashes and lingers like thunder. and yet the gentle rain comes back brining peace and light after a storm.
So, think about your storms. Who held the umbrella for you? Who calmed your fears? Who did you hold an umbrella for?
