Summer Thunder

Stupid.

Stupid, stupid.

Why didn’t I listen? Why do I have to learn everything the hard way?

“Summer!” my mother’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

“What?”

“Don’t say ‘what,’ say ‘yes,’” she said pointedly. I wanted to roll my eyes but knew that would only give her something else to critique. She waited for me to comply. “Yes, Mother?” I asked sarcastically. Now she rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to take that tone of voice with me, you know. Finish washing these dishes and go pick your brother up.”

I looked at the ground and lowered my voice. “I – I can’t,” I said nervously. She raised an eyebrow. “And why not?” I thought for a second. I couldn’t really tell her that I’d pissed off a thunder god, clouds were rolling in, and I knew it was him looking for me. “It’s about to rain?” I offered hopefully. It didn’t work. “Summer Renee, honestly! Why do you have to object to every single thing I ask you to do? Please, just wash the dishes and pick your brother up. I don’t have the energy to fight today.” She picked up the glass containing her homemade cocktail of store-bought strawberry lemonade and vodka and walked away.

I had a problem with a thunder god and knew who could help me. I would need to make a run first. I glanced at the dishes in the sink – two plates and three cups. Mom would be mad but this was more important. She’d be alright.

I grabbed the keys off the hook in the kitchen. “I’m going to Grandma’s!” I shouted over my shoulder as I grabbed my jacket. “Ok honey, be safe! I love you!” Mom called back. I rolled my eyes and shut the door behind me. As I jogged down the front steps, I put my hood up. I needed whatever protection I could muster, although I knew this hood provided me none. I stole a glance at the sky. Not too many clouds. Still regular clouds. He’s not here…. Yet. I had to hurry.

As I pulled into Grammy’s driveway, I could see her standing on her front porch. I’d never seen her look so angry in my life. I almost turned around right then and left, but, as if she could read my mind, she raised her hand up to me and marched towards the car. “WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE!” She shouted as she approached the car. She stood staring at me through the open window, glaring. “What?” I asked stupidly. She reached in the car, quick as lightning, grabbed me by the ear and started pulling me out of the car. “Ow. Ow. OW! GRAMMY, STOP!” I yelled back, finding my balance. I looked around for a second, wondering how she managed to actually pull me out of the car by my ear, but she quickly redirected my thoughts. “You stupid little girl!” she spat. “How could you?” I looked at her with confusion. “How could I what?”

“You went to The Downs when I told you not to. You went to the one place I told you never to go. Are you happy? Look what you’ve done!” she said, pointing to the clouds. I turned to look where she was pointing, and every organ in my body dropped to my feet. The sky was normal where we were, just a bit cloudy. About a mile away, though, it was pitch black. It looked like a kindergartener had drawn directly across the sky with a black crayon. As if that weren’t enough, underneath these clouds was absolute silence. No lightning, no thunder, no wind. No movement of any kind. It was as if the world underneath just…. Stopped. The thunder god was here. “Come. Now. You can’t be outside.” She led me back into her house and whispered an incantation over the door after she closed it behind me. “Tell me exactly what you did and why he is looking for you.”

I drew a deep, shaky breath and began. “Grammy, I didn’t mean to, honest! My friends wanted to have a day at the beach, but instead of going straight there we had a picnic at The Downs first. When we got there, a few of us walked around for a bit while a couple people stayed behind and set the food up. I didn’t know we were near the altar until we were there! They started kicking at the rocks, and I told them to stop but they wouldn’t listen! A lightning bolt struck the middle of the altar out of nowhere and scared my friends off, but after the smoke cleared I saw something…” I trailed off. Grammy narrowed her eyes at me. “What,” She hissed, not asking a question. I reached in my pocket and pulled out a deep ochre gemstone. Deep in its center, a green light faintly glowed. Grammy’s eyes got wide. “YOU TOOK HIS HEARTHSTONE?!” she screamed in horror.

I started to cry. “Grammy, please help me put it back. I didn’t know what it was and just wanted a better look. I thought it was so pretty. But then more lightning started and I ran and we all went home. I don’t know how we got there so I don’t know how to get back and I’m so scared and I don’t know what to – “

“Quiet, child! You cannot put this back. He will kill you for this. A god’s hearthstone is the most sacred thing on this earth. It is the god’s connection to Earth, and what gives the altar power to connect to the god. Without it, the altar is just rocks. Removing a hearthstone is the worst sacrilege.”

I searched Grammy’s face. She gazed at the hearthstone in a mixture of awe, disgust, and despair. I was going to die and we both knew it. Then there was a spark of… something else? “You cannot make amends for this,” Grammy said quietly. “But you may be able to live yet.”

“How?” I asked eagerly. Grammy looked sad again. “We must bind him,” she said heavily. “I know a spell that will allow a hearthstone to be replaced, but only by the one who removed it. If that god is seeking vengeance, he will be bound where he is and unable to retaliate. The spell breaks when you die, hopefully that will be when you’re old and gray. But be warned: he may still seek vengeance upon your children.”

I looked at my hands. What should I do? I didn’t want to curse my future kids or grandkids, but if I died tonight there was no chance of me ever having kids or grandkids. I looked back up at Grammy. “I’m ready.”

Grammy got up and peered out the window. “He’s almost here. We must hurry. If he makes it to The Downs before we do, we will both die tonight. Help me gather my things.” She shouted out names of tinctures and herbs. I hurried from shelf to shelf grabbing what I was told, carefully packing everything in a bag while Grammy was grabbing various other items.

As I headed for the door, she stopped me. She sprinkled a handful of something over me and dumped the rest in my hood, whispering words the whole time. When she finished, she instructed me to pull my hood up, and keep it up at all times outside of the house. This would conceal my face under a cloud of illusion. Grammy warned me that he would be drawn to the hearthstone’s power, so even with the disguise my cover would not last long. As we rushed to the car I glanced upward. The clouds were almost directly above us. I looked back down at the street and froze. As the clouds passed over, everything did stop. I could hear a light crackle and realized the thunder god was holding everything in a type of electric suspense. He was the one ceasing all movement and causing the eerie silence. Grammy snapped her fingers at me. “Go!” She hissed, pointing towards the driver’s side of the car.

We sped down the street, now largely empty due to the imminent “storm” that was hovering over the town. We got to the edge of town and had to go into The Downs on foot. The Downs was a hilly area that had recently been designated some kind of historical nature reserve, so roads had never been built. They said it was a glimpse at how the world used to look before human interaction. Right now, I wished humans had been able to interact with it. Driving would be way more efficient.

I grabbed the bag of tinctures and herbs from the backseat and followed Grammy. We were the only two people out there, and the thunder god must have noticed because the clouds seemed to move faster in our direction. Grammy noticed too. “Hurry,” she panted. “This way.” We passed several hills that all looked the same to me, until we came to the same lightning-struck rocks I had run from just the day before. “Hurry, child. Where is it?” Grammy asked quickly. I pulled the hearthstone from my pocket and went to place it in the altar. “NO! Are you crazy? You’ll die in an instant. Give it to me.” Grammy snatched the stone out of my hand and turned her back to me in a huff. I moved to the side of her to watch what she was doing. Her hands moved deftly from bottle to pouch to stone, and her lips moved constantly, chanting words I didn’t know.

The clouds had crept steadily through the sky and were almost directly upon us. The wind started to howl and we could hear a continuous rumble of thunder. “Now,” she said, shoving the stone back in my hand. “Do it now! He’s coming!” I could see a face forming in the clouds nearest us. I turned away before I froze in fear again. I shoved the stone back in the little pocket of the altar I had taken it from and whispered, “Sorry.”

A blood-curdling scream ripped from the clouds. My head snapped back around to look. It looked like the god had been bound by the very clouds he was trying to break free of. His arms pulled and strained, but the clouds holding him would not budge. Lightning flashed and he screamed again. His eyes were full of light and hatred as he glared at me and screamed in rage.

Grammy grabbed my arm and dragged me back to the car. We sat in silence. Finally, she spoke. “The illusion did not hold, he has seen your face. He cannot kill you, but he will be watching.” I felt a chill run through my whole body. I closed my eyes and took a breath, and was surprised to see upon opening them the clouds were clearing. I looked around and looked at Grammy. “He has gotten what he came for. His hearthstone is returned and he knows who took it. There is no more reason for him to lay hold of this town.”

We drove back to her house in silence. I didn’t know how to feel, what to say... What would life be like now? My mind raced. Grammy must have sensed this. She reached over and grabbed my hand. “It will be ok now,” she said reassuringly. I tried to give her a weak smile. “What’s on your mind?” She asked, seeing I wasn’t comforted by her words.

“You said he would be watching. Does that mean this isn’t over? That he’s still out to get me?” Grammy pulled her hand back from mine and looked out her window. “Grammy,” I said softly, “How do you run from the sky?” She sighed heavily and gathered her bag.

“You don’t,” she said getting out of the car. She walked into her house and never looked back.