Thunder

A tuesday afternoon. Sitting in front of my office machine, with Deep Purple ("Fire in the Basement") pounding in my ears, I look out the window. Outside the world has dressed itself up for war. High winds ruffling the leaves, making the tall trees bend, begging for mercy. The sky has painted itself in dark grey war paint. Swishing its lightning sword from every direction, peircing the sky every now and then. The world has no sympathy today....its out to kill. Those unfortunate enough to stand in the path of the storm today will be blown over.

Safe inside the glass building of security, I looked at the wild world outside. The streets are deserted, not even the dogs are courageus enough to stray out. People hiding everywhere...that's what we do...we hide whenever there's trouble.

And then the sky broke down.

Rains came down like it was determined to end all creation today. It came down hard, lashing at everything, clawing at the smooth exterior of the tall skyscrapers, proud and stupid enough to stand against its might. The world vanished, engulfed in the opaque curtain of the rain. The sky swished its sword more and more, blinding light and thundering sound. A glass window breaks somewhere....first blood.

The lights inside the room were lit. People drank more coffee than usual. I stood at the window, transfixed. The rain kept pounding 5 inches in front of my face, on the other side of the glass. It was taunting me...pushing me..."Come out you wimp and face me if you have the guts", it shouted. I kept looking, couldn't move, couldn't even blink. I was mesmerized....and I began to wish I was out there...with the rain, facing the storm. I wanted to look up at the murderous sky and shout back "F**k you!"

But I couldn't....of course I couldn't. My mobile would get wet. My moneybag will get soaked. I'll be drenched, how can I get back in office in that state? I'll catch cold, I can't afford to take sick leave now, my project deadline is close.

I turned away from the window, defeated. The rain outside laughed hysterically. It kept shouting "LOSER! LOSER!" I shut my eyes in a desperate attempt to shut out the sound. But it kept going...pounding my skull harder and harder. I took it all in, like I do always, too cowardly to retaliate, too afraid to stand up.

I come back to my chair, turned towards my machine once more....I've coding to do. Codes that will run into thousands bugs, codes I'll debug sitting up all night, codes my company is going to sell to the client, codes the client will incorporate in its router so that it runs better and smoother, so that some teenager kid somewhere in his dark room can see porn more easily.

I start typing, not seeing what I'm writing clearly. "F**k you!", I said.....to myself.

Outside the rain danced.