Mary Pattison
The Storm
An air of heavy oppressive silence hung above her head, as black as the ominous thunder clouds which were already forming over the beautiful landscape. The weather changed like Alexis changed her mind. One moment warm sunny and full of promise the next dark and full of foreboding. She wished that the storm would break and get rid of all the negativity in the air. It needed a really good downpour to wash away the sultry, humid atmosphere. She felt as though she was suffocating in the little cottage, much the same as she had felt the suffocation of her own life.
Alexis grabbed her jacket and decided to go for a walk, getting a good soaking in the summer rain, was preferable to staying in the cottage thinking about Rory and the news he had brought her. She had hardly gone half a mile through the forest when the storm broke. A flash of lightning which stuck the closest tree was followed by a deafening clap of thunder and Alexis felt her self falling as though the whole earth had opened up and swallowed her in one gigantic gulp.
The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was the skeleton. The jaw falling open and the near perfect teeth grimacing within inches of her petrified face. The girl opened her mouth to scream but no sound was heard. Only the sound of the screeching seagulls wheeling and swooping in silhouette against the black sky. She was in a deep hole, at an isolated spot, on one of the most remote islands in the world
She was jolted out of her inertia by another clap of thunder as raindrops as big as ten pence pieces began to land all around her, stinging her face with such ferocity that she knew that the hole would soon fill with water and the sides would collapse, consigning both her and the skeleton to a very watery grave. Next came the hailstones as big as giant marbles, they landed on an old tin box which had been exposed by the downpour and they sounded like the rat a tat tat of rapid machine gunfire. The thunder continued rolling around above her head as she tried desperately to scramble out of the hole dragging the heavy tin box with her and leaving behind the bleached white bones of her companion, still grinning from ear to ear.
The cottage looked like a haven of peace and tranquillity as she approached it, still dragging the heavy box with her. Time enough to open it once she had been in the shower and got into some clean dry clothes. She shuddered as the image of the skeleton swam into her mind as she scrubbed away the fetid dank earth which seemed to have invaded every pore in her body. Well at least the forces of nature had made up her mind for her. She decided there and then in the sweet smelling cleansing shower, that she would leave the island and live like other people in a more civilized world. Rory had broken off their engagement and had gone to rejoin his regiment. So now she was free to live her own life. The storm had not only purged and renewed the earth; it felt as though it had cleared away her own doubts and her fears for the future. She reached for the box and opened it. ! ! !
The Storm
An air of heavy oppressive silence hung above her head, as black as the ominous thunder clouds which were already forming over the beautiful landscape. The weather changed like Alexis changed her mind. One moment warm sunny and full of promise the next dark and full of foreboding. She wished that the storm would break and get rid of all the negativity in the air. It needed a really good downpour to wash away the sultry, humid atmosphere. She felt as though she was suffocating in the little cottage, much the same as she had felt the suffocation of her own life.
Alexis grabbed her jacket and decided to go for a walk, getting a good soaking in the summer rain, was preferable to staying in the cottage thinking about Rory and the news he had brought her. She had hardly gone half a mile through the forest when the storm broke. A flash of lightning which stuck the closest tree was followed by a deafening clap of thunder and Alexis felt her self falling as though the whole earth had opened up and swallowed her in one gigantic gulp.
The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was the skeleton. The jaw falling open and the near perfect teeth grimacing within inches of her petrified face. The girl opened her mouth to scream but no sound was heard. Only the sound of the screeching seagulls wheeling and swooping in silhouette against the black sky. She was in a deep hole, at an isolated spot, on one of the most remote islands in the world
She was jolted out of her inertia by another clap of thunder as raindrops as big as ten pence pieces began to land all around her, stinging her face with such ferocity that she knew that the hole would soon fill with water and the sides would collapse, consigning both her and the skeleton to a very watery grave. Next came the hailstones as big as giant marbles, they landed on an old tin box which had been exposed by the downpour and they sounded like the rat a tat tat of rapid machine gunfire. The thunder continued rolling around above her head as she tried desperately to scramble out of the hole dragging the heavy tin box with her and leaving behind the bleached white bones of her companion, still grinning from ear to ear.
The cottage looked like a haven of peace and tranquillity as she approached it, still dragging the heavy box with her. Time enough to open it once she had been in the shower and got into some clean dry clothes. She shuddered as the image of the skeleton swam into her mind as she scrubbed away the fetid dank earth which seemed to have invaded every pore in her body. Well at least the forces of nature had made up her mind for her. She decided there and then in the sweet smelling cleansing shower, that she would leave the island and live like other people in a more civilized world. Rory had broken off their engagement and had gone to rejoin his regiment. So now she was free to live her own life. The storm had not only purged and renewed the earth; it felt as though it had cleared away her own doubts and her fears for the future. She reached for the box and opened it. ! ! !