Dancing In the Wind

Scout looked up from the book she was currently reading, while enjoying the nice summer evening on her back patio. Straining her ears, she listened for a noise way off in the distance. Trying to hear more clearly, she held her breathe. She tried to hear the noise over the beating of heart going thump-thump. Then, she heard the noise again, the low, distant, rumble of thunder. Earlier when she had gone in the house to refill her water, she noticed the sky was beginning to look darker off to the West. Closing her eyes she waited for the next round to strike so she could judge how far off the storm was and in which direction it was coming from.

When she opened her eyes again, Scout saw the flash of light strike powerfully across the sky. Holding her breathe again, she counted the seconds between the lightning flash and the loud boom of thunder she knew would follow and explode across the field of sunflowers facing her. When she was a little girl, Scout's grandmother taught her to count the seconds between the strikes of lighting and claps of thunder; that would tell how many miles away the storm was.

Scout smiled so wide her face hurt! The rain was coming; she could smell it even from four-miles away, if her calculation counts were correct. The wind had begun to pick up, making her fields of sunflowers sway back and forth as if they were dancing in the acres of fields holding hands. The way the sunflowers swayed in unison made it seem as though they were having a field party! Music and lights being provided courtesy of Mother Nature's band of rolling thunder and vibrant disco display of lightning-bolts. Throw in the lightning bugs floating through the air and Scout could honestly count this as one of the prettiest sights she had ever witnessed! She had never truly looked at what was around her in this way, with so much appreciation of what she had been blessed with in her life.

With this in mind, Scout became giddy with laughter at the display playing-out in front of her. Repeating her count, she felt the wind blowing harder, and the smell of rain so strong she almost expected to feel it begin to drop on her head any second! Scout grabbed her book as she ran into the house.

An idea suddenly popped into her head. Deciding she wasn't going to let the sunflowers perform their dance without her, Scout kicked her shoes off, then stripped down to nothing but her undergarments. She freed her long, sun-streaked, golden hair letting it fall down her bare back.

Scout's hazel eyes were shining almost as bright as the light display playing its way across the sky. She dashed through her backdoor, sprinting across the lawn towards the fields. Stopping in front of the sunflowers, she lifted her arms high in the air. Scout began to sway along with the rhythm of their dance, falling in sync with their song. She could see the rain coming, making its way across the fields in waves of tiny droplets.

She lifted her face to the sky and waited for the rain to find her. As the first few drops fell on her face, Scout began to hum an old tune from a distant memory deep in her soul. Still swaying back and forth with the sunflowers, she almost choked as laughter erupted from her mouth. Scout could only imagine what she looked like out here in the rainstorm, soaking wet in nothing but her undergarments, as she was dancing with her fields of flowers! Not that she cared if anyone saw her like this, if someone else were here she would simply ask them to join her in this celebration!

She had always loved summer rainstorms; they made her happy inside. With the rain came blessings in many forms from farmer's crops to food for animals. Plus, she figured if the birds could sing during a storm so could she! As the rain soaked through to her skin, she felt it wash away all her worries, heartache, and troubles. Scout felt a single tear slide down her face and mingle with the rain on her cheeks. That tear was followed by another and then several more. Before she knew it, Scout's tears flowed just as freely as the rain from the sky; which had begun to darken as the night hour closed in.

Feeling drained from all the emotions she was feeling, Scout decided to make her way back to her house. The rain had stopped and somewhere in the night she heard the hoot of a Barn Owl followed by the mocking calls of two Whippoorwills. Her heart felt full; the sounds of the birds made her smile inside.

At the backdoor she removed her wet clothes before entering her kitchen. She grabbed a sweater hanging by the door on a hook and slid it on. Wrapping the sweater tightly around herself, she made her way to the kitchen cabinets. Scout opened the door to one of the cabinets and chose a tall, slender wine glass before shutting it again. She removed the cork from a new bottle of her favorite red wine, then poured the wine to the top of her glass.

She tip-toed quietly through the dark house trying not to disturb her pooch, who at this moment was asleep in front of the sofa with all four of her legs in the air. "That's not very lady-like", thought Scout. But who was she to judge; she was tip-toeing through her house, half-naked with a glass of wine in one hand and what was remaining of the bottle in the other! Scout couldn't help but smile at the thought.

She headed towards the bathroom with the intent of a much needed bath. She turned the light on in the bathroom, sat her glass of wine (and the bottle) down, and began filling her antique claw-foot tub with hot water. Reaching in the cabinet above the tub she found her favorite bubble bath. Pouring a generous amount into the running water, she watched as the bubbles began to form, building towers of suds in the tub.

Sighing, she refilled her glass, slipped off her sweater, lit a few candles and turned on her radio. Flipping through the saved songs on her phone, she found her "bubble bath" playlist. Scout turned down the lights and slid deep into the tub full of relaxing water and bubbles. Inhaling the smell of lavender and vanilla, she let her eyes close and her mind wander way back to a time when life was a little simpler, love came easy, and laughter was as contagious as the pandemic that had engulfed the world around her that she now lived in. Not letting the last thought bring her mood down, she began to hum along with the music floating from the speakers. She took another sip of wine and let her eyes drift slowly close again and her mind drift back in time where she could once again re-live the past.

Nothing better than a rainstorm, red wine, and a hot bubble bath; that was Scout's last thoughts as she soaked in the tub, letting herself slip into a light, dreamy sleep.