To The Sky

“There’s a hurricane coming in the same day. You sure you still want to come?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’ll be fine.”

It wasn’t fine.

The city announced a state of emergency the day Al landed. Roads prone to flooding were shut down and I had to take a winding detour to pick him up from the airport. The rain hadn’t started at that point, but the wind was picking up enough to blow palm leaves into my face in the driveway.

“Welcome to the lightning capital! Most places are closed up anticipating the hurricane, so we’ll have to hunker down here. Unless they call for an evacuation.” I held the door open as Al walked in, resisting the push of the wind to take the screen door away.

“It’ll be fun! I was running around the whole time in Texas. So this will be nice just to sit back and relax watching the storm pass by.” Al tried to sound nonchalant, but his expression betrayed his worry.

I grabbed his suitcase and walked it back to the spare room. This was a rare chance to bond with Al, this hurricane would give us a memorable experience. I only saw him once or twice a year. So this week long stay was a rare treat. I tossed the suitcase onto the bed and put my hands on my hips turning around to face him.

“Let’s get ice cream!”

“Can we walk over to that pink place? I want to stretch my legs out from that plane ride.” Al put one leg up on a chair and reached his hands over to his toes.

“Nope. That place closed down. I’ll drive, plus the rain could start any minute.” I grabbed my keys as Al’s phone lit up and he straightened himself to investigate the screen.

The only sound was the wind whipping against the shutters for a full minute. I was hoping Al’s work had actually left him alone this time. The changes in his facial expression from relaxed to curious to confused to annoyed signified no such luck.

“The power might go out…” I looked at him meaningfully.

“Ah, that’s right. I did hear about a big hurricane in the area…” Al looked down at his phone and tossed it from one hand to the other. He walked to the doorway of the spare room and tossed it onto the bed next to the suitcase. It bounced off the mattress and clattered to the floor. We both froze and glanced at each other.

“Ice cream!” we shouted in unison and ran out the door.

The strong winds were joined by a light misting of rain. The storm was definitely making itself known. I looked at the radar. Deep reds, oranges, yellows covered the map shifting like a lava lamp.

“We should have until late tonight before the stronger bands come through. Once it starts we’ll need to stay in the house, the city hasn’t announced any evacuations for my area. So we can stock up on snacks, get some candles and extra water just in case.”

“Sounds good. Whatever you think is best.” Al gazed out the window watching the dark clouds coming in from the ocean. Flashes of lightning lit up the clouds like a bulb behind a lampshade.

I could tell Al’s mind was elsewhere. He liked to ruminate on his own, so I left him in the quiet for the moment. He would bring up anything he needed when he was ready. Waiting for him to ruminate was frustrating, but poking him too early just made us both frustrated.

The roads were emptier than usual. The storm was keeping everyone inside. Everyone was probably already cracking open the bottles for their hurricane parties. Most people living in the city ignored the storms unless the governor announced a state of emergency. Even then, people were more likely to break out their jet skis on the street than evacuate. The sky was dark as night, although it was still early evening. Al’s watch lit up the car. He brought it up to his face. I narrowed my eyes at him as we pulled into the parking lot of Bo’s Ice Cream.

“Yes, I know that. Tell Shake we need to move the Epic forward. Donald already knows I’m out.” Speaking into his wrist, Al purposefully looked away from me. His eyes stayed on the dark clouds making their way closer.

He felt my gaze, burning into the back of his head. “Hey, hey, I gotta go. Fill me in later.” Al got out of the car and blushed looking at me. He nodded towards the ice cream shop and we walked in with grins on our faces.

“Soft vanilla with rainbow sprinkles.”

“Two, medium please.”

The shop was small, no seating, just a counter with a cooler full of ice cream and an icy wind circulating through the room. The kid behind the counter had a name tag that just said “Hi! I’m new!”, but no actual name. He nodded nervously and turned around to make the order. I threw a five dollar bill in the tip jar while his back was turned. I knew the feeling of working customer service, especially alone in a new position. One grumpy customer could ruin a day. I always wanted to make sure I was one that added a positive to someone’s day.

CRACK!

Lightning struck outside close by. The loud crack startled the kid and dropped one ice cream on the floor. He pretended not to notice and started making another. Al and I turned towards the windows looking outside to give him some space. The rain dotted the window and we could see a dark shifting storm wall headed straight for us. The rain created a blurry curtain that we could not see beyond. There was only us, the shrinking space of No Man’s Land and the storm itself. We looked at each other and walked outside.

“Ummm…” The kid behind the counter stood with our ice creams confused as the bell on the door rang and settled.

It was pitch black outside, the rain felt like the spit of a god coming down in fat cold drops on our skin. Al’s watch lit up again, he tossed it to the side towards the car. Lightning whipped out and tapped it before it hit the ground. The band evaporated into smoke and the screen cracked open. The rain hissed as it cooled the melted metal.

I smiled at Al, hot mist seeping from my mouth. Overcome with joy, there were no words. Finally we could have some real quality time together. He put out his arm invitingly. I looped his arm in mine and we strolled into the storm wall. Rain fell like a waterfall fully enveloping us. Lightning struck the ground in front of us and together we grabbed the bolt, riding the light back up into the sky. Finally united to tend the sky domain as we were always meant to.

Back at the house, a phone lit up again. 11 new messages. In a final throe, the phone screen flashed as the battery died. The sky outside flashed at the same time finally alive.