blue bird

6 - We will see each other soon

It was now almost five o'clock which meant we would be leaving soon.

As we were finishing up our conversations, I happened to look out the window and notice the colour of the sky. It was a dark grey colour and covered the beautiful day with thick, angry clouds.

"Woah, we better get going before that storm hits." My uncle said in amazement while staring at the dark clouds.

"Yes, on you shall go." My grandma said with a smile. We all started to get ready to leave. I went over beside her bed and leaned over to give her a big hug. "I'll miss you."

"We will see eachother soon, young one," she whispered into my ear. I stood up and looked at her and she gave me a smile and a wink. I smiled back at her and stepped aside for everyone else to say their goodbyes.

We all headed out the door; I looked back at my grandma and she waved. I didn't want to leave her, I wished that I could stay with her but I wasn't allowed to.

As soon as we got out into the parking lot, I could feel the cool breeze blowing through my hair; another thing I could feel was the tension between my two aunts. They looked overly happy with each other but weirdly angry at the same time. I decided to brush off the strange emotions in the atmosphere and talk with Keiva about school and some of our upcoming assignments.

My aunt and my cousin Francis left with a simple "bye" and drove off.

My grandpa was astonished at how shallow they could be, "well then, I better get going, I'll see you guys tomorrow." He said as got in his car and drove away.

"That was a good visit." My dad said genuinely, we all exchanged hugs and wished the other a safe drive back. Just before we left to get into our cars, I looked at Keiva and mouthed 'call me' with my pinky and thumb sticking out next to my ear like a phone. She mouthed back 'you got it' with two thumbs up.

I got comfortable and put on my headphones to listen to some music. My brother usually falls asleep on the way home and with the sun being covered by the clouds, it was the perfect way to fall asleep in a car. I adore music so much. If I could inject the rhythms and lyrics into my veins, I would. I often enjoy making playlists on CD's, but unfortunately because it's the 90s, I don't have the freedom to carry around a huge cd player and much rather use my dad's old walkman. Only downside is having to listen to full albums even when I don't fancy some of the songs within the albums. I enjoyed all genres but definitely had a huge love for rock music. If I were born ten years earlier, I would have been able to appreciate the 70s and 80s music even more than I do now.

I sometimes get car sick and with the burger, fries and pop that I ate, I tried to drown out my nausea with music and sleep.

We seemed to have been about forty minutes away from home and the rain did not start but I looked back and still saw the dark grey clouds only this time they were much closer. I watched out the window for a little bit and noticed a few drops of rain hit the window. It was very light but I knew it wouldn't take long for the storm to start.

We were about fifteen minutes away from home when the rain started pouring down really hard. My mom struggled a bit with seeing where she was driving even with the windshield wipers on. The sky was dark for miles in all directions and the raindrops were huge; splattering on everything.

We pulled into the carport which kept us from getting wet while getting out of the car and into the house. Despite my strong urge of temptation to just run into the open and dance around, I decided not to mainly because the wind was strong and the conditions looked unsafe. So I headed inside and up to my room. I threw my bag and my body onto my bed and laid there for a while, just listening to the rain. The thunder sounded like loud drums banging.

Thunderstorms are often seen as destructive and harmful, to many it brings fear and enigma. They may sound scary but I believe they are misunderstood. I find them to be quite beautiful, they cleanse and bring a sense of warmth within homes. I personally love thunderstorms, from the dark clouds to the rumbles of thunder to the steady rhythm of water droplets. I find peace in my own mind during thunderstorms, I feel calm and creative and comfortable. I will admit however that the shocks of lightning do startle me at times.

I got up and changed into a sweater and some sweatpants since the strong winds had picked up and the temperature had dropped. I grabbed a book off my shelf and went downstairs to the living room. I grabbed a blanket out of the blanket chest and wrapped myself up like a pig and sat on the rocking chair. I turned on the lamp next to the vinyl and cassette player and started reading. The book was recommended to me by my friend, Helix, who also happens to be my neighbour; we have known each other since kindergarten and have been neighbours ever since. We don't talk an awful lot but I like to consider ourselves as more than acquaintances, we see each other at school and he writes for the school newspaper which my dad helps publish.

The book is basically about Ancient England and the history of the kingdoms and royalty. I usually read fictional books like fantasy and dystopian stories. I'm really into alternate universes, which is why I find my grandma's stories so interesting.

Helix convinced me to give this book a chance and it came in handy for an essay for my history class and so far I don't mind it.

Manu walked into the living room and flopped on the couch, he turned on the tv and began watching cartoons. Every so often I would glance up at the screen but then return to my reading.

I looked towards the window when I saw something dash by it quickly and noticed how the raindrops continued to knock, the wind continued to howl against the brick walls and thunder continued to crackle.