The perfect storm

Prologue

In life, love and literature the struggles and hard times we face throughout our existence are often written as beautiful poetry.

Storms. That's always a good one. You've heard people talk about that right?

I remember reading something in a book years ago that went like this,

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain."

Sounds captivating doesn't it, the idea that you could find beauty in the middle of such dark times. But that's the thing. Sometimes it feels like there's just no beauty to be found, no matter how hard you've looked for it. The darkness is so intense that you cannot even begin to fathom an escape, and before you know it you're caught up in the eye of the storm.

But before it comes, there's always warning signs that it's approaching. The sky starts to turn grey, the wind picks up and the rain begins to fall. It's not a sudden event, and as the rain gets heavier, you can't ignore the fact that it's soaking you to the bone.

And so this is where the similarities between life and the storm end, because in life, there are rarely any signs at all. You could be living in this very moment completely unaware that with every move you are edging closer to something potentially earth shattering. Something that threatens to break you so badly that it seems impossible to recover from and yet you didn't even see it coming. Almost like the way mist lingers in the air, falling like a blanket before it suddenly smothers you. You can't compare it to a storm or a heavy rainfall because in that case you see the clouds begin to gather and you put up your umbrella or go to find shelter to avoid the downpour.

But with mist, you don't know you're getting wet. And then it hits you, you're soaking. I think that's a pretty accurate way to describe it. You think you're fine because it's just a little mist right? But there's more mist than you think. And it all adds up. You just don't realise it because you can't actually see the raindrops falling from the sky. And soon it's in your eyes and your hair, and the mist is water and it's covering you. Every single inch of you.

People will call you dramatic. Just go home, dry off and go back out when the skies are brighter. Simple as that. "Everything will blow over" they'll tell you. But like with the mist, the water builds up inside you and you may as well have been hit by a tsunami. It's ridiculous to even consider the possibility that the sun might come out again from behind the clouds because at that moment you're plunged into darkness and your beacon of light is gone.

It's an impossible feeling to describe. It's like you're drowning while everyone else around you is breathing and all you can do is watch. The storm is all around and you can't even do anything to save yourself. You're not even sure you want to anymore.

You look back and realise that sheltering from the earlier storm was pointless, because trying to delay the rainfall is like trying to numb the pain. It only makes it worse when you finally feel it. The downpour was unavoidable. It hit you anyway and what was worse was that you weren't even expecting it.