THUNDERING HEARTS, 350 words long flash fiction.
Dark clouds bundle over the horizon while distant rumbling vibrates the air across the hilltops like a drumbeat, instilled by the growing storm’s heart. It’s rhythm lulls mine. It knows of its code. Of its meaning. Of its call.
I rush out the door, the wind greeting me. It keens, and I know of its hunger. It sweeps through the grasses and tosses trees’ limbs from side to side, scattering leaves along its torrents. I set out, forward, under clouds pregnant with rain. They overrule the skies in a rainbow of greys and blues, drowning out the last of the goldenrod sun.
Within the stretch of a minute, water pours down. Thick drops soak through my sweater but I don’t care. I just run. Run towards the booming bellow of thunder. Run towards the flashing light that highlights the storm. Our storm.
Amidst the roiling clouds that darken the horizon in mimic of an early night, lightning crashes down.
There you are. My silver lining. My light in the dark.
For less than a second I see your face. Your outstretched arms towards me.
Silence fills the time between your vision and your following voice, chasing everything else away. There’s only calmness. Peace. And for just a moment, my heart obeys the stillness in solidarity to yours.
Just another step and I could touch you.
Just a moment longer and I’d be able to remember.
The warmth of your smile.
The taste of your lips.
The words in your eyes.
But the world returns with a deafening boom and it’s too late.
The echo of your presence is all that remains. The imprint of your light behind my lidded eyes. The crackling whisper of you calling my name in the winds.
My heart struggles to recover its pace. The shock of grief disorients me and for a second I truly see the darkness for the ending of day. I hug myself and look up at the heavens.
For an instant, I saw you, and I weep along with the weather now that you’re gone again.