It would always start off so still. It could be a bright day, than suddenly get dark and you could smell the storm. The air would stop moving, it might be warm or cold and than the sky just lit up. Thunderstorms; they were and still are my favorite form of nature. Slow coming in, wind blows in the trees like a melody being played and heavy rain just all of it sounding so poetic. There had been times I’d imagine the winds were the trees talking to each other passing along a message. I would hope it was a message for me. Every storm you’d see the sky light up but not always hear the thunder. I remember sitting in the car once with my mom and brother during a sever thunderstorm. Lighting so bright, as if someone was turning lights on and off. Next was the loud claps of thunder, so loud you could also feel it. My mom said it was God bowling, and he was having a good game that day. I’d always felt nature was so beautiful because it was so unpredictable, it was free. Free from all the rules we had to live by, it was free to do as it pleased and no one could stop it. I remember after the storm that day in the car, the clouds rolled by and a rainbow appeared. “Always a rainbow after the dark.”, mom would say.

I still felt I was waiting for my rainbow. Times were tough and dad did the best he could to keep us happy, but nothing compares to those mom moments. She just knew what was happening by looking at you. Always knew the right thing to say, the right hug to give. I grew up with animated fantasy movies, and feel in love with the idea of another world. Or that tornado that safety took Dorothy to OZ. I always hoped to find a key, a spot, somewhere that could take me far away from the bad. Somewhere to go where I was safe and could just be me!