Eyes wide, staring at the windows.
Once black and blank, they flashed shadows of trees
So quickly you would swear there were
Electric lights turned on outside.
But it wasn't.
The lightning flashed, the thunder snapped.
The trees whipped around in circles
So quickly you felt as if you were starring
In some sort of hurricane film.
But you weren't.
I looked around.
Snuggled deeper into the sleeping bag.
I caught no ones eyes, but I knew
Each and every girl in the flimsy bunkhouse
Was staring out that window
And could smell the rushingly wet dirt
Through the stuck-open door.
It seemed like forever but wasn't long
As we watched the light show outside
Before the Harpee Queen told us to leave.
We ran for the only complete building on the property.
I slipped, jumping off the bunkhouse porch
Which was so dear to us.
Wham!
On my back in the inch-deep mud
Covered with the slick, thick glop,
I got up and ran.
No one cared whose hand they grabbed
As long as they felt safe from the storm.
The rain lashed my face.
It felt as if a giant bucket of water
Were being poured upon us from above.
There were no raindrops.
It was a wave of water.
A never ending wall of liquid,
Forming thick mud the instant it touched the ground.
I could taste the gritty mud in my mouth,
My hands were covered with the thick mud
And the water poured in torrents, drenching my shoes,
My hair, my hat, every single article of clothing on my body
Right through the rendered worthless raincoat.
Finally, our destination reached, someone pulled out a watch
Was it really 3:30 am?
The sky was as bright as early morning,
But the lightning was different.
Harsher, unstable and too-bright,
It seemed wrong.
And it was.
Lightning flashing so quickly that the individual flashes
Were unrecognizable.
The sky was one big thunder clap.
The rain roared in our ears as the water dripped
Slowly from our hair and rainjackets.
I shook my head to remove the water
And just to be doing something.
We stood around,
It was useless to squeeze the water from our clothes,
We'd be going back to the bunkhouse through the drops again.
But we did it anyway.
Just to occupy ourselves.
Because there was nothing better to do
Than look at the rain.
And we'd seen enough.
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