Memory of an Ohio storm - Written December 1, 2018

The door to my bedroom is slightly ajar and the evening light casts shadows on the room - I can make out the shape of my bed piled with stuffed animals and the rough rug on the floor.  The curtains on the windows rustle softly and the warm smell of a summer storm permiates the room. I can hear the low rumble of thunder mixed with the sounds of my brother practicing The Entertainer downstairs. The fan is whirring in the window directly to my left, pulling the warm air out of the room. There is a slight hum of the passing car as I decide whether or not I should turn on a light or just walk across the room to the window and close it - the room has three windows, but only one is wide open.  It was such a hot day only hours ago and I chill as I can feel the sharp temperature change - I was warned to hurry upstairs and close the window and turn off the fan - as there is a tornado warning.  I can tell the storm is coming - there are bright flashes in the sky lighting up my room and I pause taking in the sounds of the rain just beginning to fall, first as loud stacatto like splashes - fast and sharp then slowly building into a crescendo of the downpour that starts to leak into the wide open window - I run across the floor in my barefeet hitting something sharp with my foot and hear it skitter under the bed - I stop and peer under to see what it was but then my father yells up to ask what I am doing so I go to the window and allow the rain to spray on me before pulling down the storm window - it is stuck with the heat and the rain and I strain to get it down just as the lightening flashes once again - this time I can see the whole neighborhood flooded in light - I see my friend’s father’s car pull into the drive with the windshield wipers furiously slapping back and forth - I finally get the window down just as the clap of thunder cracks - dangerously close with the rumble rattling the window frame and I back away from the window - how many seconds was that?  Does that mean the storm is closer?  I rush back to the door stepping a little more carefully to avoid whatever sharp thing I hit the time before and go into the stairwell to the attic to take the fan out of the window - I am careful to turn it off first, remembering that if I touch it while it is running and wet I could get a shock - I am able to get it out of the window but again, I struggle with the storm window - the heat of the house and the coolness of the air is starting to make me nervous - I wonder if we will have to run to the basement tonight....