Unexpected Storm
Unexpected Storm
“Are we almost there?”
My parents sigh and shake their heads again. “Just a few more minutes, and we’ll be there.”
We have been driving for what seems like a century, and we still haven’t found the hotel we were staying at. I look outside the window and marvel at the blue-green ocean, it’s waves crashing against the rocks with a satisfying swoosh. Right as I am about to lose hope of ever getting to the hotel, the taxi stops in front of a building with wooden exterior panels and white columns. I jump off the taxi and race towards the door, breathing in the salty air, and feeling the hot summer heat on my face.
The first few days pass by quickly, with lots of swimming in the sun, games, etc. But on the third day, we see a sign up sheet on the bulletin board outside our hotel room for kids’ trapeze lessons and activities. We agree it would be fun to try it out, so my parents put my name down on the clipboard.
After breakfast the next day, we go outside, and I sit down on the grass with many other kids under a red and blue striped tent. The tall trapeze instructor gives us rules for being on the trapeze--along with the many ways we could fall or get injured if we didn’t follow instructions carefully--we line up in front of the ladder and take out harnesses from a bin.
Right before I am about to start climbing the 12-foot ladder, I feel a drop of water on the tip of my nose. It’s so gentle that I ignore it, and my brain persuades myself that it was just my imagination.
However, seconds later, rain starts pouring down from above.
“Ahhhh!” I hear the shouts from our group as well as the other kids who are outdoors.
We are all confused at how the blue skies have become a dark grey in less than a second, but the staff and parents gathered around the tent tell us not to worry, this is just a miniscule rain shower, and motion for us to sit under the tent and wait the rain out.
We are in the middle of our 5th game of duck duck goose when I hear someone shout excitedly,
“Lightning, I see lightning!”
I look up and a streak of light in the sky almost blinds my eyes.
“Hurry inside!”
We rush through the glass doors and I feel the cold rain soaking through my hoodie, I quickly cover my head to keep from getting wet. Thunder roars above us, reminding me of the angry cat we saw the other day outside our house.
We finish our game of duck duck goose on the pale yellow carpet, and my family and I go off to change into dry clothes. The rest of our day is spent kneeling in front of the tightly closed windows, watching lightning and thunder streak across the sky. It feels like a live move is going on outside our window, and we marvel at the bolts of lightening moving faster than we can process. We also play many board games, and later even go to the indoor pool to play on the water slide.
Even though I didn’t get to try trapeze that day, I realize that I got to experience a giant storm right outside my window, and it was still a fun day.
