Storm #writephoto

Photo by Sue Vincent

I felt the turbulence as she entered the room, the low pressure system sucking the air out and drawing all eyes in.

A flash of lightning struck as she glanced around the packed room.

The crowds parted as torrent moved forward.

She didn’t even see me as she passed inches away, but the gale force winds turned me with her.

She went at the bar.

People turned back to what they were doing. The music came back on.

I remembered to breath.

But then I saw her again. I drew in a sharp breath.

My mind clouded up.

How dare I even think I could even speak to one such as her?

Oh, the impenetrable fortress high upon the cliff! Her stare would hold back vast armies of admirers.

Drink in hand, she walk a little ways then stopped. She stood, not too far in front of me, throwing thunderbolts around the dense packed room.

The whirlwind hit my stomach, tearing up everything in its path, and took aim at my poor head.

More lightning strikes as she performed another search of the room, forcing all who faced her to run for safety. Was she expecting to find a friend in the masses of faces?

Her gaze met mine and the room grew dark and cold, imploding in to that single beautiful, yet horrible heart of the hurricane, her face. A frown. She stood high, a thundercloud threatening all before it.

The wind shifted and she was standing before me.

A bright ray of sun, as she half smiled.

“Is anyone sitting there?” She nodded at the chair across the tiny table from mine.

I tried to calm down the hail and pouring rain in head.

“You….” I pointed at the seat with my entire hand, palm up, as if offering her a throne.

She smiled. The sun came out, dissolving the clouds.

“I’m Mike,” I said, giving her that same hand to shake. “Are you meeting friends?”

She took my hand in a warm, firm grasp. “No. I’m new in town and was just looking for a friendly face and a place to sit.”

She smiled again.

The impenetrable walls on top of the cliff, obviously weakened by the tempest, crumbled a bit.

Although there was still a lot of turbulence on my inside, there was an outer calm.

The storm had passed.