Thunder Between Lightening
The rain fell forcefully outside that Hitachiin Mansion's walls, cooling the night air. Heavy raindrops, like the mournful tears of angels, thudded against the high roof. A simple April shower to – at the moment – to bring Spring flowers.
Five year old Kaoru stared out the tall window from his perch on the window ledge, listening to the drum of the relentless rain outside. The water slid down the glass, each droplet picking up smaller ones as it trekked downward. With one last distasteful glance out the window, Kaoru joined his twin brother at the sink that was connected to the room they shared and snatched up his toothbrush. It wasn't that he hated rain, it was what the rain brought with it.
After cleaning up, they crawled into bed, two twin pushed together to make one large one. Kaoru stared up at the coffered ceiling, trying to ignore the constant patter the noisy rain made. The only light in the room pooled in front of the windows, a dim blue-gray that disappeared at time when dark, fat clouds blocked the moon. A flash of white light flickered so fast across the room that he wasn't sure if he had imagined it. His mind wandered. What does the man on the moon do when…
CRAASHmmmm…!
Kaoru, started, jumped and pulled the cover up over his head as if to protect himself. Hikaru, his twin, balled his fists up white-knuckle tight, clenching the comforter. Comforter… how ironic.
FLASH! Cower. RUMBLE! Jerk.
"Hikaru?" Kaoru whispered. His slightly older brother didn't answer, unable to find his voice but always able to find his brothers hand in the dark of the room.
FLASH!
BOOM!
The small, identical boys cowered at the loud clash and scooted closer together.
"It's angry: the sky monster."
"Why is it mad?" Kaoru murmured, squeezing his eyes his eyes shut as the storm continued frightfully..
FLASH…
BOOM! The sky screamed louder than ever, the boys echoing it as screams of terror.
Footsteps and a low mumbling could be heard from outside their closer door, getting closer. The thunder and lightening raged on at shorter and short intervals.
"It's coming…"
"The monster is mad at us…"
The both screeched as the door opened and ducked for cover. A figure stood there, in shadow and outlined in the artificial hall light. It barked grumpily just as another wave of thunder growled. "Be quiet in here! You should be asleep." The boys peeked out from the barricade of sheets they had made to see who was there. They recognized her and rejoiced, popping up and running to their nanny only to duck at the flash of lightening.
The nanny watched the boys carefully and put a hand on each of their shoulders, feeling them twitch as thunder crashed again. He expression softened slightly, and she led them back over to their bed, tucking them in. "It's only light and noise, it won't hurt you." They didn't look convinced. "Thunder is the sound that lightening makes, but since light travels faster than sound you hear thunder afterward." This wasn't helping. She thought a second. "Do you want to know something neat?" she attempted to distract them. Kaoru and Hikaru scooted closer to her, quivering with fear but interested. "If you count the seconds between lightening and thunder, however many you counted is how many miles the center, to worst of the storm is away from you.
Boom!
"R-really?
She nodded. "Hmm… I call this Thunder Between Lightening," she made up, trying to make it seem like a game. She decided to stay with them until the storm subsided. "Let's try it." She didn't have to wait long for the next bright flash of lightening. "One… two… three…"
Boom!
"Three miles away until it hits us."
At the next flash, the twins counted shakily, "One… two–!" They were interrupted by the "monster's" deafening roar that seemed to shake the whole house.
Flash.
"One–"
Boom!
The roars and flashes collided now barely pause. As the storm climaxed, both boys shut their eyes tightly and tried to muffle their whimpers. One roll of thunder after the other clashed together, bright flashes lit the room constantly. When the "battle" started to calm down, they counted, knowing the worst was over and the storm was receding.
"One… Two…"
Flash.
"One… Two… Three.."
Just a cute little story I wrote about 8 years ago. I hope you enjoyed!
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