This is just a small scene that I had written for a competition focused on phobias. For those unaware, Astraphobia is the strong fear of thunder and lightning. I have been thinking a lot about extending this scene into a full story, so any thought, suggestions, and opinions are more than welcome. Enjoy!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Bye mom. Bye dad," Hailey said, giving both of her parents a quick hug before they loaded into their Honda Civic and backed out of the driveway. Her father had to go to some type of conference in California for a few days, and her mother was not going to pass up the opportunity to spend a few sunny days shopping in Los Angeles. Hailey was sixteen, and they both trusted her to be mature enough to stay home by herself for a few days. Besides, they knew as well as she that during the school week, she wouldn't be throwing any parties. Of course, Hailey wouldn't have any desire to throw a party should they leave over a weekend anyway.
Hailey's school week consisted of classes, dance team practice, and homework. She wasn't the party girl like most of the other girls on the dance team, but they tolerated her and she tolerated them. It didn't bother Hailey at all. Nothing was going to keep her from dancing. The fact that she had just moved from Iowa to the small school just outside of Portland at the beginning of the school year may have had something to do with it as well. She definitely didn't have to use more than two hands to count those she considered 'good friends.' Having joined the school two weeks into the new year, she was still looked at as 'the new girl' by most of her peers, with only a few actually wanting to get to know her as a person.
As Hailey walked back towards the front door of her house, her eyes rose to the sky, groaning at the sight of the large, gray clouds moving quickly towards town. Of course it would rain the first night she would be home alone. It was Oregon. Did she really expect anything different? The only thing that could possibly be worse was if they'd moved to Washington. Stepping into her vacant house, she was greeted by the eerie silence. It was the first time her parents had left her alone for longer than an evening. It usually didn't bother Hailey, but knowing her parents wouldn't be returning in a couple of hours made everything seem a lot quieter, as if the walls were whispering behind her back.
Hailey settled down at the kitchen table and began to work on her homework after turning on the stereo in the living room to drown out the silence of the house. She worked with ease through her math homework and then moved on to the outline for her paper on The Scarlet Letter when the low rumbling began. The sound was almost too low to be heard, but rest assured, Hailey heard it. She had a keen sense for hearing storms, which didn't exactly calm her nerves.
Ever since she got struck by lightning when she was six years old and nearly died, Hailey retained a very healthy fear of storms...and a scar on her right shoulder blade. Her parents figured it was something that she would eventually grow out of, so they were somewhat surprised at the fit she threw when they told her they were moving to Oregon that summer. Oregon. Where it rains... a lot, probably more than any other place in the United States, aside from perhaps Washington.
"Rain, rain, go away. Come again....never," Hailey muttered silently to herself as she typed the title of her essay on her laptop. A louder rumble of thunder sounded, causing her fingers to freeze above her keyboard. Why? Why did this have to happen while she was home alone? Couldn't the weather take a break for a few days? Surely Mother Nature needed some rest occasionally, especially with winter just around the corner.
A loud rumble of thunder seemed to answer her questions promptly. Hailey pushed her chair back forcefully as she strode into the living room and turned the stereo up even louder. Perhaps she could drown out the storm. Of course, it didn't take her long in the kitchen to realize that being in a room surrounded by windows probably wasn't the best thing. The sky was almost completely overcast by that point, and the threat of rain was hanging heavily in the air. Slamming her laptop shut, Hailey threw it and the rest of her schoolwork into her backpack and quickly bolted up the stairs to her bedroom.
