storm country

I dreamed I was about to stay the night at a friend's house, and I went walking down the block to where my car was parked so I could pick up some gear for overnight.

I finished grabbing my stuff and stopped before heading back to blow my nose. As I did, I happened to look up at the sky, and on the horizon there was a thunderhead so gnarly and mean-looking that it was as black as midnight at the center. It was coming fast and little wisps of cloud that looked almost like smoke were swirling around underneath it.

I decided I wouldn't be going back to the house just yet, and dug out my camera to get a picture for my blog of this incredible black thunderhead.

I stepped out of the car to get a clear shot, and just then the first lightning flashed. It was spectacularly bright and jagged, and the thunder was almost simultaneous. I jumped back into the car and climbed into the rear, keeping well away from anything metal. More lightning and thunder while I climbed around, and this time it was even closer than before. Cars are safer than most places in electrical storms, but I was starting to be scared.

The storm hit so fast I barely had time to click the wheel over 'video' and start recording. I didn't have to point it any particular direction because every fork of lightning ended up in-frame. The thunder was savage. At one point I got nervous that my terrified breathing would end up in the video and spoil it, but the noise got so much louder that I didn't have to worry about that anymore after a few seconds.

Lightning started striking all around the car and the sky filled with these horribly distorted sounds. I'd never heard anything so awful in my life. I'd heard something similar once (in walking life) when lightning struck nearby and the thunder sounded like someone waving thin metal plates or wires around before it finally boomed. That had been weird and curious; this was horrifying and deadly.

The lightning was so bright and constant that it started distorting the visuals on the camera's viewscreen into meaningless jagged white wavelengths. I knew the sky was trying to get me, just as it had in all those recurring dreams that had come before. Lightning was striking the car, over and over again, and I kept recording through it all. What else could I do?

I woke up with sick jolts of fear and anticipation surging over my body from head to toe. I knew I was awake and safe, but my brain was still reacting to lightning that wasn't really there. I even checked outside to make absolutely sure, but the foot and a half of snow on the ground wasn't enough to reassure me that the storm was imaginary.

I came over here to type it down without bothering to give myself time to wake up properly, because the paranoia and chills were driving me crazy. It was so fucking real.