Greetings

• Nekeesha (Seyrah) Jayasinghe, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2022

I sighed.

Moving to a new country is harder than expected, I thought. The grass felt tingly and cool as I rested my hands on the hard ground. A wise tree with dancing autumn leaves blocked my view as a crisp and chilly wind blew through the air, bring the feeling of a bitter evening. Abruptly the bright sun was gone and replaced by sinister clouds that gave the feeling of a gloomy atmosphere.

Plop.

A crystal-clear raindrop fell on my nose. It was freezing cold, making a chill go down my spine. More and more raindrops fell into our small backyard. I quickly stood up, brushing imaginary dust from my lap. I felt around my straight hair for any bits of dirt that had maybe got stuck. After all, I was laying down on the grass patch. The wind became stronger, and I felt a small gust of ice-cold wind push me slightly. I rushed to the shelter of our looming alfresco. I shivered, and automatically the rain fastened, and heavy drops fell onto every surface. I tried to open the door, but my hands were slippery and instead I sat on the chair. I panicked but calmed myself down. I was overreacting. I slowed down my breathing and regretted acting like such on such a silly thing. I stared mysteriously at the rain, just noticing a woodpecker doing its mighty job under the shade of a sturdy tree. Suddenly, it flew away, as if sensing something. I blinked and in an instant, it was gone. My vision blurred and I blinked some more ferociously. As if noticing, the sky turned and even more awful shade of grey and the rain came on down faster. I could hear it banging on the roof and I had the tiniest thought that the roof might collapse. There went me being silly again. Wait. This was harder than rain. Why was it so loud and heavy? Isn’t rain normally light? I took a cautious step to the grass. I felt something hard drop on my hair. I rushed back into the shade and closely looked at the ground. Wait. It wasn’t raining, rain isn’t very visible when it touches an object, right? Well, whatever this was, it was very visible on the ground. No, I was imagining things. Was I? Hurriedly, wiping my sodden hands on my skirt, I pulled the sliding door to enter into our house with all my might. Luckily, it opened, and the first thing I saw was my mother looking at me puzzled.

She pointed outside. I slowly turned around, bracing myself for anything. Pouring down were icicles, destroying the shed’s roof. I watched in horror as the wind swept the gardening equipment away. Was a tornado about to form? A memory flickered in my head. I remember reading about disasters and how they are formed. Was any of this related to tornadoes? One page had similar effects.

Visible rain?

Ice?

Mini bullets?

It was just 'Hail' - greeting me for new beginnings.