Thunderbolts and Lightning, Very Very Frightening

It all started on a normal, ordinary day, like any other. A typical day, for a typical first grader. It was fairly sunny out, and the temperature was at a nice 80 or so degrees fahrenheit. Cliché as it sounds, the birds were even singing. The young Eric Sanders didn't expect any of the events that would soon occur, as he was outside in the nice weather, playing, running, and laughing.

"I'm gonna jump real high!" he announced to his friend, Lenny Davidson. Both were at the Davidson house, using the swings that were a part of the backyard's play-set.

Lenny laughed, and said, "Me, too." He was still laughing as he shouted, "On three! One, two -" Lenny didn't finish before Eric launched himself from the swing seat and landed on the grass in a crouch.

"Look how far I went!" Eric shouted, jumping to his feet and running back to where the swing-set was, about three feet away.

Lenny pouted, jumping off his own swing. "No fair. You jumped before me."

Eric stuck his tongue out, before saying, "Sorry."

That was enough for Lenny, as he smiled again and suggested what they should do next. "Let's race to the trees. Ready, set, go!"

This time, Eric ran at the same time as Lenny. The two were neck and neck, their race resulting in a tie. The games went on and on, switching from races to jumping on the trampoline, and from that to hide and seek.

During their competitive game of hide and seek, things started to go sour.

Eric was hiding behind one of the trees that they had raced to earlier. His hiding spot was a really good one, because his dark clothes and dark hair camouflaged with the foliage around him. In his spot, he didn't notice the sky starting to turn darker.

At Lenny's announcement of 'ready or not, here I come', Eric pushed a hand to his mouth, to keep back small bouts of laughter. He always got a bit giggly when he was hiding.

Eric was in his spot for what felt like an eternity when Lenny sighed in frustration and decided to look inside for his friend. While Lenny was indoors, still seeking out his friend, the first signs of the coming storm appeared.

Even though the game was still in session, for Lenny had never shouted out 'olly olly oxen free', Eric emerged from his hiding spot, brushing off a few leaves. He had started to walk back towards the house when the rain and wind started.

"Rain?" he questioned out loud, to nobody in particular, coming to a stop. Hadn't it been sunny just minutes ago?

Eric was soaked by the time he realized that he had to get inside of the house. The six year old began to run towards the door that was in the distance. The backyard he was in was very large, and the trees were the farthest from the house. Eric had a pretty long way to go.

There were several yards left to run when a bright light flashed a little way off, lighting up the sky for just a moment. Fascinated, Eric stopped once more and looked around to try and see where the light had come from. A loud crashing sound came seconds after, causing the young boy to jump.

He was definitely scared.

Starting up his run again, Eric basically ran for his life towards the door, but he wasn't fast enough. The light showed up again, followed by another terrifyingly loud crash. It happened yet again. And again, and again, and again.

When he arrived at the door, Eric tried the knob, but it was locked. Starting to really panic now, he began to pound on the door, wanting to just get inside and not be outside during this. The wind was picking up, as well as the rain, soaking Eric further. He didn't notice though; all of his energy was focused on getting away from the scary lights and noises.

"Let me in!" he shouted, his voice breaking because he was practically sobbing.

Finally, Mrs. Davidson opened the door, a look of shock on her face. She pulled Eric inside, away from the thunder and the lightning. "You're okay, you're okay!" she tried to reassure him, hugging the young boy to herself. Eric was like a second son to her, and the fact that he'd been left outside had upset her greatly.

Once the door was closed and locked again, Mrs. Davidson carried a crying Eric towards the living room, sitting him on the couch and telling him to try and calm down, while she went to get him a warm change of clothes.

The poor thing was shaking like a leaf, from the cold and the fear. In his mind, he believed that if he'd stayed out any longer, he would have been killed. It was an irrational thought, but Eric couldn't help it.

"Eric, what's wrong?" Lenny asked, running into the room. "Why are you wet?"

Eric didn't answer though. He just continued to sit there and stare straight ahead, shaking and crying, and occasionally sneezing from being out in the rain for so long.

That was the day that his terrible case of brontophobia developed.

xxx

Years later, Eric was still terrified of thunder and lightning storms. His rational side told him that the thunder and lightning would never hurt him, yet he would still bolt for a building or run to his bed to hide under the covers when he saw the signs of one. Eric's irrational side still felt as though the lights and noises from the storms would hurt him. The irrational part of him was the one that dominated over his train of thought whenever there was a thunderstorm.

Eric Sanders was now sixteen years old. He'd spent ten years of his life fearing something that wouldn't hurt him. He'd spent ten years hiding under his covers, or in closets, or behind couches whenever he heard the crashes of the thunder and the brightness of the lightning. If a friend was around, he'd cling to that friend as if his life depended on it, until the storm was over.

But he didn't always have somebody to hold, or somewhere to hide.

One day after classes let out, Eric was walking home with his headphones in his ears. He wasn't paying attention to what song he was listening to, as the music just acted as background noise on the journey to his house.

Suddenly, Eric felt a strong gust of wind rush past him. He pulled the headphones out of his ears and looked up at the sky. Clouds were all over, and rain was starting to fall at a light drizzle. He knew exactly what was going on.

"No, no, no... Not again..." he muttered to himself like a madman, whipping his head around, trying to find some type of shelter. Nothing. Eric was on a pretty empty road, with no houses or buildings to hide in. He could already feel himself shaking.

Having no other ideas for survival, Eric just began to run, the rain soaking him to the skin. His dark hair turned even darker with every drop of water that hit him. His clothes were clinging to him, and his shoes were getting soggy. There was no doubt that Eric would be sick after all of this, but he didn't care much. All that he cared about was getting inside before the storm started.

Although his breathing was getting heavier by the second, Eric kept running towards his unknown destination. Must be safe, must be safe, must be safe... The same phrase ran through his mind over and over again, making him continue running.

He hadn't even neared a neighborhood by the time the first bolt of lightning came, followed by the unmistakable crash of thunder. Eric jumped nearly a foot into the air, instantly freezing in place. Crouching into as small a position as he could muster, Eric began to whisper to himself that it was going to be okay, even though he thought it wouldn't. If he didn't try to calm himself down, he'd surely face a panic attack.

Saltwater tears rolled down his face, meshing with the freshwater drops of rain that were previously there. Eric couldn't help himself; he had to cry. He was terrified, petrified, frozen in place by the thunderstorm.

Flash! Crash! Boom! The sounds of the storm had brought on spasmodic shakes from Eric. Even as a teenage boy, the storms still scared him. He hated this phobia of his. Couldn't he be scared of something more logical?

"It's just thunder, it's just lightning," he whispered, although his voice cracked and anyone could just hear the absolute terror in his voice.

The whispered remarks kept coming, as Eric tried to stay calm and avoid any panic attacks. He'd never been hospitalized for his severe brontophobia, and he really didn't want that to happen. It didn't matter what anyone said, he wasn't crazy.

More lightning flashes, more thunder crashes, more shaking, more crying, until finally it was all over. Eric had absolutely no idea how long he'd been outside during the storm, he had absolutely no idea how he'd managed to stay calm... but he was still alive and well.

Finally standing up, Eric looked around to see that nothing had been affected by the storm. Sure, a few small branches had fallen off the trees and everything was soaked, but nobody was dead. That meant that the lightning and thunder hadn't hurt anyone. It hadn't hurt him, nor anyone else.

It was harmless.

And just like that, he was cured. Laughing at his stupidity, his long-lasting stupidity, Eric kept walking and walking.

Maybe all he needed was closure to get over his fear. Maybe getting stuck in the storm, for the full length of the storm, was all he needed. Whatever the case, he was done with being scared of thunder and lightning. And Eric couldn't be happier.