Calm Before A Storm

• Adrien Luc, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2016

Rain lashed the windows relentlessly. Slumped in my moth-eaten chair, I gazed morosely out into a leaden sky. Its spirit so down and miserable, mirroring mine.
To my surprise, however, I couldn’t help feeling grateful for the gloomy weather. The staccatos of thunder and lightning penetrating the air were, but an ideal supplement to drown out my family’s dispute. Unfortunately for me, having borne the brunt of constant violence and abuse, I was riddled with depression; a young boy who much preferred the company of Mother Nature to his own family.
Not for the first time, an argument broke out over dinner. In an effort to remain deaf, I clamped my ears shut, but to no effect. Four years, my parents had been fighting over trivial matters with reckless abandon. The violence, the fear, the anxiety; they were part of my life. Each and every single one having taken a toll on my delicate frame. This wasn’t our family. Mother, father – what happened to us?
I stood up, shunting my chair in a little, and left the dining table. This household was a veritable hell. What it would do to man psychologically, let alone a child… it was difficult to imagine. The raindrops beating against the rooftop were now growing louder and louder as the sky became steadily darker. Exhausted, I hurried off upstairs to my room, slipped inside, closed the door, and turned to collapse on my bed.
The minutes snailed by. As I lay there, staring at the ceiling above, I wondered if it was worth trying to sleep.
“Please,” I whispered to myself, “please make it stop. Oh God, have mercy on me.”
For a second, I thought I heard the voices downstairs falter. I got to my feet, inching slowly toward the bedroom door, my ears strained. Then there was a scream. A long, piercing shriek like a banshee, came emanating from the kitchen.
I stumbled backward at once. My breathing fast and shallow, my heart doing a kind of drumroll against my ribs. All the bickering had become such a stress and strain that I fell back into my bed, sinking deeper. Tears pooled in my eyes, and after a moment, I started crying loudly, my face buried in my hands. It was a great sensation – to let go of everything bundled up inside of me.
I wept for what seemed like at least half an hour until I could weep no more. I was out of tears. After a while, I noticed that the rain seemed to have lessened; the noise from outside, too, became quiet. I leaned back against my pillows, watching moonlight spill through the window.
A gentle silence fell. Overhead, the heavens, as though answering my plea, sparkled with stars. And sure enough, there was a calm. Deep down, if I were to search the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Peace at last!…