The Storm
The first thunderstorm of the season was approaching as she walked along the shore of her lake. The air was still, yet heavy with the promise of rain. Not a creature stirred knowing of the impending downpour.
She was able to feel the electricity in the air as a snap and could even smell it. In the distance, thunder rolled and she could see the lightning play between the black clouds that seemed to hang oh, so close to the earth.
A light breeze sprung up stirring the long grasses and moving the new spring leaves, bringing with it the scent of rain. The air cooled causing her to wrap her cloak around her with a delightful shiver down her spine. It was still silent other than the breeze playing amongst the branches and whistling in her ear.
All at once, the wind picked up whipping her long hair and swelling her cloak behind her. The hem of her dress swirled around her feet as she made her slow journey along the shore. She was able to see the water form waves which almost licked at the path she was taking. The whistling turned into a howl as the wind became stronger and stronger with each passing minute.
She stopped and looked out at the lake to watch the wind driven waves as a berserker's grin spread across her face. She reveled in the sudden coolness, throwing her arms out as in worship of her goddess while she turned her face to the sky. A few fat raindrops spattered on her cheeks and dotted the dust on the ground. A wild laugh bubbled from her very soul as lightning flashed and thunder boomed. It had begun.
She never noticed nor did she care that she was drenched to the very bone. She wasn't afraid, but was in awe of nature's fury that was being unleashed in front of her. She was hypnotized by the driven wind and rain, and by the light show above her head as lightning flashed and thunder cracked. Her only thought was that her peers would have been frightened and would have sought out shelter, but not her. She was one with the storm.
The storm continued to rage around her while sending torrents of rain in great sheets moving across the lake. She still laughed and howled with crazed mirth though the sound of it was lost to the rumbling thunder and screaming wind. Many tree branches cracked and fell in the wild, wicked wind, yet even though she heard and knew of the potential danger, she stayed.
Little by little the rain slacked and the booming of thunder was taking longer and longer between the flashes of lightning. The wind died down to a breeze that only rustled the freshly washed leaves on the trees. She hurried to her cabin to dry off and change into a dry dress. Her own laughter died down to a low chuckle though her grin was still plastered across her face. She was reminded of the old adage about not having enough sense to come in out of the rain. "I have none" she thought to herself, in a fresh burst of giggling.
She knew that she risked her life staying out in the storm, but she was drawn to it and could no more stay away than a bird could be stopped from taking flight. She was meant to watch the branches sway in the wind and witness the pure fury that was the storm.
Later on that evening, as she sat by her fire with a steaming bowl of stew in hand, she thought about how she would always remember the lesson learned out there, that no matter how much power a person can hold, no matter how much control one has over those beneath them, that there is something that holds more power and force than any one human alive. No single being can compare with what she experienced when she spent her afternoon facing the wrath of a thunderstorm.