Lightning

[vaneramos]

Saturday sunset


The rain finally came last night, breaking the heat. I went down to the street in only my shorts and stood there, letting it wash my skin. Purple clouds rolled. Raindrops like a volley of bolts got caught in the golden path of a streetlight.

A crack of lightning reached to the zenith. If it had hit me, I wouldn't be sitting here this morning wondering whether I've wasted the past decade trying to find a creative cleft in the world where I can stand in confidence. It has probably been worthwhile, but I'm scared of the way life gets away.

The lucky one gets struck down without knowing. The unlucky one gets kidnapped off a quiet street, bundled, bound in a basement dungeon, tortured, raped, strangled and dumped in a ditch, all potential stripped away. It might seem like the universe is unjust. Really, we all have the same chances. Because luck is no more on the side of the kind than the cruel.

I couldn't stand there long; the rain was too cold. But while I did, a flash of light caught a woman's face in a passing car window. She was turned toward me, watching and smiling.