The Lightning Maker
Jeremy sits with his back against the wall. He is waiting, and the wait is the worst. Outside, another loud peal of thunder booms, and the windows rattle slightly, in their frames.
Jeremy squinches against the wall as much as possible, he is afraid, because he knows it will happen any second. Then, it does. The atmosphere seems to get crispy and there is an intense flash of light.
The television screen pops loudly in a burst of sparks. Jeremy jumps at the sound and squinches even closer to the wall. At least it was only the tv, he wanted a new one anyway.
The thunder booms mightily, causing the floors to vibrate. Another bright flash, and the light fixture in the room where Jeremy is hiding, spews apart in a shower of sparks and glass. It’s really happening now, he thinks, as he tries to become one with the wall.
Earlier today Jeremy had been preparing for this storm. The forecast had it coming in at sunset, and it was supposed to be a strong one. He knew he had to be in safety long before the storm was close.
The Lightning
Jeremy hated lightning. He and lightning were drawn to one another, but it wasn’t mutual like for one another, that drew them together. Jeremy had been struck by lightning. Twice.
Even now, when he is hiding and trying to stay away from the windows, he can feel the lightning seeking him.
There is another intensely bright, flash of light, followed immediately by a loud popping sound from the kitchen. He can hear the echoing ding of the microwave bell and decides another microwave isn’t a bad idea. One with higher wattage would be a good start.
An hour later he checks the weather radar again, and this time the map shows clearing skies. It had been over forty five minutes since the last rumble of thunder. He decides to take a chance and leave the safety of the wall.
Drawn
The first time he was struck by lightning, he didn’t know it. He had just woken up laying on the sidewalk. It had been a cloudy day, and he had been walking, and then had woken, laying on the sidewalk.
There was a hole in the toe of his shoe, and he had a headache. Otherwise, he had felt fine. The second time there were witnesses. And video. He feels a tinge of nausea thinking about it.
He had always wondered why thunderstorms were so severe. When he was in high school there had been a freak lightning storm during school one day. It had become so bad that they cancelled school.
The school had been struck by lightning repeatedly. Jeremy’s class room had been the epicenter of the strikes. Although, he hadn’t seen this connection, until a few years later.
He steps into the kitchen and examines the ruined and smoking microwave. Third one this year. He turns to the fridge to get a soda and shoots a bolt of electricity from his hand into the fridge.
The refrigerator explodes in a shower of sparks and smoke, as Jeremy falls to the floor from panic, and scrambles away from the now destroyed refrigerator. He hadn’t seen this coming at all.