FOURTH ROUND-----Username;; ege-----Name;; Novocaine (Caine)-----Gender;; male-----Relief and space, 380 words
Something makes you walk up to your window and look outside. You recall the strange dream you had, but it’s a still night with the stars shining clearly. You stare out into space, tracing your eyes over the constellations you know so well. Tearing your eyes from the window you make your way through the house and out into the backyard, breathing in the cool night air.
You can see the sky better now. As you gaze off into the darkness, the storm from your dream feels as far away from you as the twinkling lights above you. Inexplicably, you feel a need to see the storm up close rather than run away from it. The stillness and silence of the night is far from relieving; it's deafening and unsettling and you find yourself waiting for clouds to roll in and drown the world in a downpour.
That doesn't happen of course; the sky remains cloudless until dawn. You sit in your backyard watching the heavens until the sun begins to rise, still feeling as if the storm is distant, and still feeling as if there's something you're missing.
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It's several days before a fierce storm appears on the radar. You've been waiting for this, watching the still, clear nights for the dark blue-grey of a storm cloud, listening for the rumble of thunder in the distance. The night is pitch black and you wait outside to meet the storm head on. The dark grey clouds block out your view of the stars.As raindrops begin to fall and run through your fur, the relief you were searching for seems to have come to you. The most off-putting part of your dream was the lack of feeling. Here, now, you can feel the rain on your back, the ground beneath your feet. It's all so real, and you feel free as the storm crashes around you.
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This is the story you tell when people ask why you never stay inside when it rains.
