Thunder

An Outsiders Fanfiction by Princess Amoretta

Lightning flashed through the sky, soon followed by a clap of thunder I knew all too well. I dove under the covers in fear. Of what? I do not know, but ever since my parents died I had had recurring nightmares that would wake me up covered in a cold sweat and screaming. Though I could never remember the dream, thunderstorms always reminded me of them. Maybe because I thought it was God's way of saying, "Come out child, it's your turn now," or maybe it was because loud noises remind me of the gunshots and fighting I hate so much. Whatever the reason, I really hate being scared of it; it makes me feel vulnerable and overly dependant on others.

Another clap of thunder rang through the apartment and I started whimpering despite my morals on how a greaser should act. I really wished my brothers were on their way home, though I knew they usually worked all day, or someone would come to my rescue and help me get through this all.

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A loud rumbling filled the garage, I stopped what I was doing and put down my wrench. Rolling out from the bottom of the car, I remembered the not-so-young boy back at home and panicked. He can't stand thunder! I stood up quickly and ran, looking for my boss. I couldn't find him anywhere! I found one of my coworkers and asked if he knew where the boss was. He had gone for lunch. I asked the guy to tell him I was taking the rest of the day off and he agreed but would probably forget within the hour. I thanked him anyway, hopped into the car and sped off in the direction of home.

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The storm seemed to be nearing and the thunder was almost unbearable. I was shaking beneath the covers, close to tears, but greasers don't cry, so I held it in, trying so hard to comfort myself. I prayed to every God I could think of, hoping someone, anyone would come. Another round of flashing and rumbling came and by the time it was past tears were steadily streaming down my cheeks. I tried to stop them, I really did, but they just kept coming and coming. The fact that I felt so vulnerable made it even worse.

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The rain made it close to impossible to drive well, especially since the sky was almost as dark as night. The poor boy must be nearly scared to death by now. Whenever a storm comes around one of us is always home to help him and storms never usually come during the day.

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I was almost there. The rain was coming down harder than ever and I knew it would only get worse. I pushed the gas pedal a little harder and hoped I wouldn't spin out of control. I saw a turn coming up and I knew it was our street. I turned and sped towards our house, not wanting him to have to wait another minute. I jumped out and ran to the front door.

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I heard a car pull up and prayed it was one of my brothers and not anyone else looking for shelter in this storm. As much as we are a family, I wouldn't want any of the other guys finding me like this.

The door opened and closed with a bang and I heard footsteps running through the house towards the bedroom. The door flew open and a figure ran towards the bed and hopped in with me. I was lying on my back with the blankets over my face and an arm grabbed me over my waist and pulled me close to a body. I turned over so that I was on my side and facing the person's front.

"'Sokay. Everythin's gonna be okay."

I snuggled in closer to the body as another round of thunder and lightning came. I was whimpering again. He sighed and tried everything to calm me down, but I was near hysterics by this time and could not stop. He grasped me closer to him and it did calm me down a bit, but it wasn't enough, you know? He soon realized this from the shaking and whimpering. So, to calm me down he covered my mouth with his. And, you know what? Everything was okay, all because of my big brother. I love him so much.