Stargazing With Beilah

Storm

PROMPT FOUR: STORMS

Rain poured down harshly, forming tiny, beautiful droplets and crashing to the ground, splattering its contents all around the surrounding area. The rain dropped to the pavement, splashing happily and collecting into puddles, each individual droplet ready to reunite with its friends. The crystals pouring from the sky fell heavily to the ground as they did so, making them not only alike crystals in their majesty and beauty, but in the ferocity of their descent to the ground as well.

Dark clouds filled the night sky, painting it a swirled mixture of blues, purples, and greys, not a star to be seen, as all were hidden away by the stormclouds, heavy with the weight of a thousand watery diamonds ready to be delivered back to earth. Lightning danced across these clouds, lighting up the skies and streets in brilliant flashes of bright lights ranging in colours from golden to blue to red. They struck their glowing colours across the sky in a blast, illuminating all around them in different colours.

As the glorious lights of the dancing firebolts faded, they were quickly accompanied by loud, booming crashes of thunder, sometimes far off in the distance, sometimes closer by. Occasionally, it seemed as though the thunder was chasing the lightning, right on its tail as it illuminated the night. Other times, it seemed as though it was dragging behind it, miles off.

Some people found storms daunting, others found them and all that they could bring a nuisance. Of course, one could see the negatives associated with storms- power outages, trees collapsing, lightning strikes, deafening thunder, getting soaked by the torrent of rain-

Still, Beilah couldn't help but absolutely love them.

Despite all of the negative connotation help behind them in so many stories and legends, she couldn't help but find them utterly romantic and entrancing. Kissing scenes in the rain were a bit stereotypical, but Beilah had to admit that the idea didn't go without its appeal... though these scenes were usually depicted as loving, passionate kisses under light rain and this was, well, a full-on storm.

The storm, though far more intense than gentle rain, did not go without appreciation. Somehow, although the cold was biting, the sound deafening, the light eye-bleeding, it was still beautiful and, in the end, created a romantic atmosphere. The thunder so loud that nothing could be heard only felt and seen. The lights so intense that the entire street felt like a disco in motion. The rain so intense that everything was cast in a comfortably cool, clean, and close feel as hair and clothing are momentarily bound to your person due to the storm.

All in all, everything was gorgeous and Beilah wished she could stay outside like this forever.

Her SQUIP had other plans, though, and those plans, much to her dismay, did not involve watching storms, much less playing in them, or simply walking outside during them to bask in their wonderous glory. His plans were far more boring and involved staying cooped up indoors.

Despite knowing how much her SQUIP wanted her to head inside, she took her time walking the rest of the way home, though she knew the experience of getting to see and feel the storm first hand would come at the price of a nagging mechanical voice and cold, wet clothes. Despite the few drawbacks of staying out in the storm, she thought it was worth it.

"You are going to get sick, you know."

"You're no fun," she sighed, "Can't you appreciate the storm? Even a little?"

"I do suppose that there are positive aspects. For example, the water from the rain is very good and necessary for the environment for both the surrounding flora and fauna."

"...you're no fun."

He sighed, shaking his head, "I fail to see why you find storms so incredibly romantic and lovely. It's a bit of precipitation, some static electricity, followed by the sound of clouds screaming in agony. Nothing about it seems romantic- aside from perhaps the outcome of flowers and people being watered."

"It's beautiful!" Beilah exclaimed, almost indignantly, "The lightning lights up the whole sky, even though the clouds block out the light from the moon and stars! Besides, there's something really poetic about storms."

"I suppose I can see the appeal," he murmured, eyes trained in the sky, carefully watching the lightning streaking across the sky, taking in the scene. Beilah could see the lightning reflecting in his eyes, though, combined with something strange and unfamiliar, though not unheard of or unseen by her. It was what she could only describe as emotion. Something inhuman and, by all logical standards, impossible for a computerized being to experience or even completely understand. Yet, there it was. The loving look in his eyes as he gazed between her and the colourful, light-filled sky.

She couldn't tell which one he was staring at lovingly, but that didn't matter once he leaned in and pressed his lips against her forehead in a quick, loving kiss. It was fleeting but strangely warm and very much welcome. It left her heart fluttering, doing backflips in her chest in a way that made her feel strangely weightless. It was not a grand gesture, nor was it too intense, but it left her feeling almost as if she were floating- comfortable, happy, at peace with herself.

SQUIP straightened his back and smoothed his suit down, brushing away imaginary wrinkles and dirt particles, "Let's get you inside before we both freeze to death."

She didn't argue, this time, heading inside to take a warm shower and change into fluffy, comfortable clothes that wrapped her up and held her close like a friendly cloud. The sweater and sweatpants that enveloped her reminded her of hot chocolate, both in feel and scent. The chocolate scent very well could have been either her mind projecting the scent onto the clothing or simply from actually spilling hot chocolate onto the clothing in the past. Either way, the scent was just as calming as the warm feeling of the soft clothing enveloping her, wrapping around her in a gentle, relaxing way.

After showering and changing into the warm, clean clothes, Beilah headed into her bedroom, flicking off the lights before collapsing into her bed, burrowing into the fortress of sheets and blankets like a safe-haven or nest. Although she hadn't been too deeply affected by the cold while outside and distracted, now that she was inside, she could practically feel the cold air trying to crawl in through her windows and was thankful for the warm blankets and sweater protecting her from the chill of the storm still raging outside.

Moments later, as she felt herself beginning to drift off to the sound of the rain pouring down against the roof and the distant thunder crashing, a new sound joined them. A soft, gentle voice singing the lyrics of an unknown song filled with lyrics that she didn't know and couldn't comprehend. She didn't know what the song said, but it was sweet and beautiful, though murmured in a language that was either foreign to her or foreign only to her sleep-muddled mind. Regardless of the softness of the tone, or her inability to comprehend what was being sung, she appreciated the sentiment and emotion that the lyrics were clearly charged with and found it lulling her to sleep, accompanied by the rain and thunder that seemed to all play in tune to one another.