I was in the middle of a lightning storm, surrounded by water spouts. I was terrified. The area felt like it was familiar to me, yet also very foreign. I can’t say it was surprising.
I was on the edge of the water, wide-eyed as the storm raged around me, wind nearly pushing me into the choppy waters. On the surface of the water, there were a series of wooden walkways I knew did not exist. Then again, weather phenomena such as this also aren’t commonplace here, but I accepted the “reality” of the situation and ran for my life as lightning struck the ground nearby.
Running on those wooden planks as they moved along with the sporadic tide was a challenge, and the rain made them increasingly slippery, which didn’t help. It didn’t take that long for myself and others unfortunate enough to be on the walkways to fall into the surf. We paddled along desperately, fearful of the lightning that violently cracked in the air around us. Though unlikely, it felt as though the bolts were targeting us and other objects in our vicinity, and we swam away from the places they seemed to strike most often.
Looking out towards the horizon, the sky was a deep charcoal color, with it seeming to darken at the point where sky met sea. But, the darkness was constantly interrupted by bright flashes of lightning striking downward. All along the coastline, people seemed to have lunged for the water, thinking they would be safer there than on the metal-laden land. They might have been right in their original idea, but they had not considered that the boats in and around the makeshift port would also be a target for the lightning.
The air buzzed with electricity as we tried to swim away from the danger. At that point, some fires had started where some bolts had hit their marks, breaking away some parts of their unfortunate victims. Luckily enough, the smell of charred human flesh evaded me.
From all sides, water spouts with lightning running through them approached menacingly and we floundered in the water, wanting to help each other, but also trying to escape the imminent danger. The sensory overload only made things worse; seawater throwing us around in its ill-tempered tide, rain pounding down on our heads and shoulders, wild wind roaring in our ears, thunder rumbling louder than ever after every blinding crack of lightning.
My heart seemed to have gone completely still, yet I somehow felt it in my throat as I yelled to those around me to seek safety. Suddenly, a shiver ran through my body as the sky lit up. And then it all went dark, only for me to open my eyes in a cold sweat, breathing hard as I woke from the nightmare.