It’s a lovely day. I’m lying out on the lawn, watching the clouds float across the wide blue sky. There are soft noises around me of birds and insects, and in the distance I can hear traffic, but it doesn’t disturb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The clouds are small, and puffy, making shapes in the sky. One is a rabbit with a fluffy tail. Another looks like an aeroplane. A darker cloud, slightly larger than the others, floats by next. It brings with it a threat of rain. Those following it make the rain a certainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The air cools noticeably, and the sounds of the birds increases, as they scurry off to the safety of dry nests. A shadow falls over me, and I turn to see a thick bank of dark grey clouds approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lightning scatters across the wall of cloud, illuminating what lies inside. Things move within the cloud. Long tendrils of something not-cloud undulate within the heights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I shiver. Not from the cold but from what I see that cannot be explained. Thunder rumbles as the lightning crackles. I have waited too long. Large heavy raindrops fall on me, and the cloud-tendrils descend, grasping at the landscape not unlike thick roping tornadoes. Although they’re not.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They grasp trees and stones, even buildings, and haul them skyward. The sun is completely gone now. Somewhere behind the cloud, something large moves. Perhaps the cloud is it, or just its foreboding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I feel the tremors in the earth now. Soaked by the heavy rain, the ground shakes and wobbles, sending ripples through the surface as it approaches. The storm-not-storm comes, and I kneel before it, waiting for the end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It’s a lovely day. I’m lying out on the lawn, watching the clouds float across the wide blue sky. There are soft noises around me …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[266,292,24,8,291,293,294],"class_list":["post-3333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-horror","tag-lightning","tag-morte-oakley","tag-mountain-ash-chapter","tag-short-story","tag-storm","tag-tremors"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pff1uY-RL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3244,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=3244","url_meta":{"origin":3333,"position":0},"title":"Short Horror #2","author":"Morte Oakley","date":"February 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The neighbourhood is quiet. 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