The Rain was a Blessing

“A storm is coming.”

My eyelids still felt a little heavy, and my thoughts were fading. After countless nights without any work to do, I was able to sleep peacefully only to wake up and hear that a storm is coming. Sonia’s eyes were locked on her glowing cellphone, as usual, I could see her big hazel eyes because of her blue-lit screen. Why would she be up this late at night in my room? Anyway, it’s what teens do; staying up all night with their phones. And that is why I always make sure to save her phone for the night before she goes to bed, that is what a good father would do I guess. I managed to sit upright on my bed and checked my phone. 5:30PM? I’m already late for work, maybe I could just call my boss and tell him I was sick, even though it is not that much of a lie.

“Put that phone down,” I told her

“But, Dad… you have to see this”

She hands me her phone, which is cold and proves that she just came in. The screen showed a page on the local weather website, a worrisome graph indicating a decrease in temperature for today. I couldn’t read the entire data when Sonia clicked on her screen to another page with a warning message saying,

“A severe storm is approaching, with winds reaching up to 65 mph. Take precautions and stay indoors as the storm is expected to hit within the next few hours.”

Is this real? The cold breeze in the late afternoons, the strange snow that appeared yesterday night, no wonder such thing could happen. As I looked at Sonia, her face flushed. At her young age it is normal to feel so worried and unsure of what is going to happen to us, I mean, I'm not much of a teenager but I feel the same too.

“I was right, we have to get out of here ASAP, go and take your bags,” I told her. She didn’t say anything, she just stared at me as if I did not say anything before trailing off to her room. I, myself, had to take my bags. But who knows if we are coming back? This thought haunted me for days until now. There was no time to lose, I grabbed my bags and then headed to the bathroom to take the necessary. When I was done, I had to go to the living room to look for my car keys. I remember putting them in our family pot last night, or so I recall. But it wasn’t there, I checked the cupboards, and all the drawers were car-keyless. I was about to lose my temper, how could I waste my time on those keys?

“Where are those goddamn keys!” I hit the wall with my fist, allowing the frustration to flow inside the walls. Our family picture fell on the ground, exactly where I found my keys. I picked the picture up, not minding the broken glass protector, but got distracted by our long-lasting smiles which don’t feel eternal anymore now. Sonia was standing by the door, dressed up, and her bags packed.

“I’m ready.” She muffled in a sober voice

We had no time to waste. No matter how positive I tried to think, the wind fell chill and harsh as I opened the entrance door, which made me remember what would come up in those next hours.

“Sonia enter the car!”

My voice sounded blurry already, and my shivery body did not cooperate with me. On our way to nowhere, I was lost in my deepest memories, forgetting Sonia who fell asleep in the back of the car. The car heater helped to clear my thoughts for some time.

We were already halfway to the lighthouse, which felt like the best last-minute place to stay until I saw the sky casting down as the Sun decided to set again. Many cars were gathered at the end of the highway, seems like we weren't the only ones willing to run away from the storm. My fears came up again, less in number but more intense. What if we never make it to the lighthouse? Will this traffic slow us down? I hesitated to off the heater because of my sweating, stress, and doubt. I heard Sonia waking up from her slumber, this reassured me. Until I heard a sobbing

"Dad?"

I couldn't look at her, not that I wanted to ignored her but I just can't bear to look at my daughter tearing up, it distract me from moving. But I guess I should just give her some attention, in a situation like this, I won't accept my daughter to be forgotten. I stretched my hand to reach out hers, trying to reassure her.

"We must leave the car, Sonia"

Her eyes widened like she had heard the worst news ever in her life.

"What? Are you kidding me? In this cold? Without the car?"

It was the only way to get out of here, the lighthouse was up in the heel and the traffic did not improve anything.

"It is only 10 minutes walk, we can park and leave the car here take the necessary bags, and head there" I pointed at the heel leading the way, but didn't seem very convinced as her grip softend, and she allowed her tears run fall on her cheeks,

"Look sweet pea, no matter what happens, I'm not leaving you alright?" I hearted her,

"Just take a look at the trees, they are collapsing!"

Indeed, the trees were swaying and bending until a few seconds later one of them had to break and destroy a car just in front of us. The booming sound of the tree-fall made Sonia scream then covered herself in the thick blanket she brought. The storm got worse as we heard the thunder coming from close and the rain started to fall. The car was very silent until a becoming yell from close alarmed me. It seemed like someone was coming close to us, running. I looked at Sonia to see if she had heard the same thing I heard. And she was still under the blanket. I gently pulled the part covering her face and murmured,

"It will be ok, I prom-"

BOOM!

As I turned back, a blazing man was on our car hood, rolling himself left and right and howling in pain. The fire was lit and great, roasting his flesh non-stop. We.Had.To.Go.

After witnessing the unbelievable, we ran out of the car forgetting the bags like a lion was chasing us.

"AHHHH, IT BURNS ME, KIAAAAAAK!"

His screams were vanishing, as we continued going up the heel. We barely had to wait a minute for our clothes to be soaking wet from the rain, the fog blurred my view but not completely. I finally reached the light-house, it was a long time I'd seen the lighthouse under heavy rain like that. But as soon as I reached the main door I realized that Sonia wasn't with me anymore, I thought she was behind me, how could this be? I faced the way we came from and yelled

"SONIAAA!"

After yelling for the next 30 minutes, I gave up. The only person left, the only soul I cared for, the one I could kill for was gone. Hoping that she may still be around I tried going down the heel again but it seemed like the heel got more slippery than before. I had to faint, losing my consciousness was my brain's only option to find temporary peace. As I laid on the dirty ground, I felt more free, closer to Sofia, allowing the rain to wash away the horror.