A flash of light suddenly filled the windowpane. My heart jumped into my throat. Was that the face of Jason I saw in that flash of light?
How come I never noticed that lightening before? Come on now, Ed, just because you saw “Friday the 13th” last night doesn’t mean Jason is real. This has got to be a dream.
“Get yourself together!” I say to myself.
I press my face against the windowpane to get a better look at what’s outside. A longer look this time reveals a different eerie scene. The moon is absent in the night sky. The clouds look heavy and ominous. The wind is gusting. The trees appear to be stretching their limbs in a 45 degree angle. I can hear drops of water splatting against the window screen.
The good news is, I saw no Jason, or anything human, animal, or monster looking. It’s just a bad storm so, obviously, I’m not dreaming.
Off in the distance, I see a faint lightning bolt.
Suddenly, I hear what sounds like fingernails scraping across a chalkboard. The thought momentarily crept back in. ‘Jason!!’
Another look; I see the same moonless sky and tree branches still bending in the gusting wind. I can’t see the source of the scratching, though. That means a trip outside to get a closer look.
I grab my raincoat from the closet, find my old pair of slip on shoes, and head out to the back porch and into the chilly air.
There it is again — scratching… and the tapping… and the sound of a dog barking, perhaps more of a whimper.
Without thinking, I scan the back yard for the spot where I buried our dog. I buried Sandy out there last year. Is she still in her grave?
Cheez, Ed! What’s the matter with you? I know it’s the day after Halloween, but this is stupid.
Another flash of light! A little closer this time. Every hair on my body feels charged with electricity. My body is tingling. Is it from the electrically charged air or from anticipation of what I fear may be coming in the next few seconds.
Another brief splash of light reveals that nothing has changed. There’s still no moon. Those clouds are still huge ominous puffs in the sky. The rain drops aren’t as big as I thought, though. There are just millions of them hitting the ground. It looks like a lake out there. The rain drops appear to be coming straight down like the blade of a guillotine.
The words, “It was a dark and stormy night” pop into my mind. Is this what the author of those words wants his readers to actually feel?
There are those noises again.
The metal shed, it’s in the back yard. That must be the source of the scratchy sound.
Standing on the edge of the porch didn’t help me see it. I stick my uncovered head out from under the cover of the porch and look toward the shed.
Another flash of lightening!
Ow! Ow! Ow! Why didn’t I think about how much a million drops of rain hitting my head would hurt?
The brief look gives me enough of an opportunity to survey the terrain.
The large oak tree next to the shed is now covering the metal building. What a relief that is! I don’t have to deal with it until daylight. Case solved.
But what about that barking dog? Why is it barking?
Reluctantly, I pull my rain coat tighter and head out into the rain. The water from my newly formed lake covers my shoes. My pajama bottoms immediately stick to my legs. The rain pelts my head. It feels like I’m being stung by a swarm of bees. Undaunted, I go on to the sound of the barking dog.
What happens next is totally unexpected and unwanted.
The dog, a stray I’ve never seen before, works itself free from the fallen branches and scampers off.
I should be happy about that. Not me. I had risked my life, limb, and the threat of Jason to see what was happening here.
After all I just went through; it would be nice to tell the story of how I heroically rescued a wounded animal in the middle of a dangerous thunderstorm.
Now all I have to look forward to is going back into the house and trying to give my wife some plausible story as to why I’m so wet.
O! How I wish this would have been a dream! It would have been more rewarding.
You Don’t Have To Be Rich And Famous To Have Adventures!
