Summer Storm

As Rilea walked from the air-conditioned restaurant, she could feel the heat of the day upon her skin. Tugging at her hair, her long hair falling from the neat bun. She repositions her sunglasses, allowing her vision to readjust again. Rilea looks up and notices the lateness of the afternoon, the smell in the air, the scent attributed to the first summer rain after a hot day. 

There was no rush in her pace as she strolled along the beachside path to where Rilea had parked her car. A lovely afternoon for a walk, she thinks to herself. The walk back to her car after work is one of her favourite parts of her day; that is why Rilea parks a distance from the restaurant.  Sometimes the longer the walk, the better.

Occasionally stopping to soak in the afternoon sun, Rilea reaches into her handbag and rummages around until she locates her mobile phone. A weather warning appears in the notifications: the first summer thunderstorm with heavy downpour expected.

Rilea doesn't continue to read the details. Instead, she drops her phone back into her bag as her pace quickens, making returning to her car a priority. 

Rilea feels her heart rate elevate, the knots forming in her stomach and the tightness in her chest. She knows these signs; she knows what's coming. Rilea stops and faces the ocean. In the stillness with her heart pounding, she takes a deep breath. When her eyes open, she notices the storm clouds rolling across the sky. Rilea tries to calm herself, to take that moment like her psychologist has told her to do. But to be in the moment, to stop and be still, instead of hurrying to her car before the rain, makes the panic attack come quicker.

With the weather warning in the forefront of Rilea's mind, she begins to run towards her car. She feels the spatter of a few large raindrops fall upon her and sees the sploshes on the pavement. The beauty of the afternoon has dissipated. The colours of the horizon have disappeared and are replaced with the greyness of the impending storm. 

This is the first time she will be alone, alone without anyone to help her, to offer words of encouragement. There will be no one to be her second eyes as she drives. It's only five months since Rilea's world changed before her, and she has avoided this situation so many times since then. Although now, there is no escape and no one to do it for her. 

Rilea reaches her car and opens the door, throwing her handbag across to the passenger seat. She considers picking up her phone to view the radar, to know how much rain is coming; however, she knows that is not going to help. It will not change the situation. 

Pressing the power button and engaging the brake, the car starts. The music from the speakers blare. Rilea turns off the radio as she needs to concentrate. The rain is hitting the windscreen with a thud. Big raindrops, albeit slow, do not change the tightness Rilea feels in her chest. With palms sweaty as she plugs in her seatbelt and checks her mirrors. She catches a glimpse of herself. Her new eye stares back at her reminding her of her lack of depth perception and visual acuity.

Rilea is nervously transfixed on her hands and shallowly breaths in. A loud clap of thunder shakes her from her thoughts, and she notices the rain hitting the windscreen harder. Rilea takes the steering wheel with both hands and turns the windscreen wipers onto fast. She knows the faster the wipers go, the easier it will be for her to see. She turns her lights on to help her see further and clearer, past the droplets in front of her.

She checks her mirrors one last time. Then, with anticipation, she pulls out of her parking space onto the road and begins the drive home. Another clap of thunder sounds, and she jumps, nearly braking hard in fright. 

Rilea is scrunched up over the steering wheel, peering out the windscreen, desperate to see between the sheets of pouring rain. A light in front turns red, Rilea can hardly make out the intersection before her. Panic swells within her, momentarily. Then, autopilot seems to kick in, and Rilea's foot presses hard on the accelerator, moving the car quickly through the intersection and somehow out of harms way.

Rilea reminds herself that she knows this road, and she has driven it so many times. Unable to see three feet in front of her, Rilea manages to take the turn to the highway. The car accelerates to the increasing speed limit as other cars fly past. Rilea stays in the far lane, the slow lane and takes her hands briefly from the wheel to soak up the sweat.

Rilea glances at her mirrors. Unfortunately, she can only see a few bright lights as the rain is too heavy. 

Without warning, a large wave of water hits the windscreen, and Rilea feels the vibration of a large truck passing her petit car. She allows her eyes to divert from the front and sees the long truck beside her. The tyres of the truck propel water from the road towards her. Rilea's grip on the steering wheel tightens.

The anxiety kicks in. Rilea starts rapidly surveying the area for a place to pull over, so she can stop and escape this heavy rain. She can't focus. The pounding of the rain on the roof, on the windscreen, is absorbing all her attention. She looks at the speedometer, wondering how she can slow down on this 100 km/hr road. Both hands on the wheel, her grip tightening, the tears start to fall. As her speed drops, she is alerted by a horn, a car overtaking her. 

There is no escaping this, no way to avoid driving in this rain.

Rilea lifts her head and peers further through the rain on the windscreen, barely making out the lines on the road. Then, finally, she sees a sign for her exit. A little hope fills her heart. The heavy rain falls around her as she puts all her focus on the sign ahead. She doesn't hear her phone ring or the sound of rain on the car roof.

The tension of her body keeps the vehicles' momentum as she indicates and takes the exit. 

The little car slows to the stop sign, and Rilea's attention is broken. Cars behind her start sounding their horn as she sits at the stop sign, frozen. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Rilea takes her hands from the wheel and rubs them on her lap, wiping the sweat from her palms. She squeezes her hands into a ball before retaking the wheel. Noticing the horns sounding, Rilea feels her chest tighten as she flicks the lever of the wipers instead of the indicator and the wipers slow. 

For a moment, she studies the windscreen. Then, mesmerised by the gentle flow of the wipers, Rilea observes the rain before her. She watches the droplets falling and hitting the windscreen, not looking through them or past them as she had countless times during the trip. Immediately Rilea figures out that the rain is easing. 

With the recognition of the easing of the rain, it dawned on Rilea that she was holding up the traffic. Looking in the rear vision mirror, Rilea sees two cars behind her, the occupants looking irritated. Quickly Rilea sets the indicator and precedes to turn left. As the car turns, Rilea notices the storm clouds moving to the north with haste. 

"Wow, as quickly as the storm hit, it seemed to be disappearing", Rilea says to herself, forgetting the impact of summer storms. She takes a deep breath in as her foot presses harder against the accelerator, and she heads towards home.

With the rain drizzling on the windscreen, the wipers not so manic, Rilea feels at ease. She checks the speedometer whilst passing a speed limit sign. Rilea allows her grip of the steering wheel to relax and the tension of her body to unwind as she alters her position in the seat. A few more kilometres along the country road, and Rilea knows she will be home. 

The late afternoon sun pushes through the clouds, and a ray of light shines through Rilea's window as she reaches her driveway. As the car comes to a stop, the handbrake applied, Rilea sighs. The tears on her cheeks dry, her breathing no longer shallow; Rilea pulls out her phone to look at the date. For the first time since losing her eye, Rilea realises that her life does not need to be different from what it was, even if she faces a few unique challenges along the way.

Out of the rain, Rilea came to shine.