Dark and Stormy Night(Ed DeRousse) Dark and Stormy Night!
         
Tap, Tap, Tap.  Was all I heard, ever so softy at first. It’s only a dream. I’ll just open my eyes to my familiar bedroom surroundings, then close them and go back to sleep.  I’ve had bad dreams before. Sometimes I remember them. Sometimes I don’t. Lately, though, when the bad dreams come it seems all I have to do is tell myself to open my eyes and they go away - never to return. This time will be no different.

I open my eyes and blink a couple of times.  It feels like I am awake but I’m never sure until I check my surroundings. First I must locate the bedroom door. I sleep on my back so that process is not difficult. It just requires a turn of the head to my left.
         
Just like all the other times before, subdued darkness engulfs me. Our bedroom is never in complete darkness because the hallway night-light gives a glow of light to the room.  A little light always creeps in, especially since my wife insists we keep the bedroom door open. That subtle lighting makes it easier for me to orient my mind to the surroundings as I wake from one of those dreams.

          Once I find the bedroom door, my eyes adjust and my mind starts analyzing the surroundings. First, it locates the bathroom door across the hallway. Searching, I see my wife’s dresser and the window. Once I locate the window my mind nudges me awake enough to recognize that I am in my own home and no longer in the land of make believe.

But something’s different this time. Those noises that woke me haven’t stopped. What was I hearing and where are they coming from? I turn to look at my wife. Is she breathing? I can see her chest moving. I take comfort in that.
         
I don’t want to wake her. No sense alarming her now. I roll onto my back and take a deep breath and hold it. I need to be sure it wasn’t my own breathing I heard.

Tap, Tap, Tap. 
“What is that noise?” I whisper. 'It doesn’t sound like someone trying to break in. I’ll lie here a little longer and try to figure out where it’s coming from.
Sounds like a dog.
It can’t be. Sandy died last year.
But yet, I know I heard a dog bark.'

My brain always functions at a diminished capacity when awakened unexpectedly in the middle of the night. I take in another breath and hold it. I have to be absolutely sure I am hearing those noises and not dreaming them.

TAP! TAP! TAP!  

“OK! That’s real! I am not dreaming!”  I whisper. 'I really do have to check it out now.'

As quietly as I can, I slide out from between the bed sheets and place first one foot then the other on the floor. I sit on the edge of the bed for awhile to insure my brain can function well enough to handle foot movement.
           
Now where’d that noise come from? I’ll check the family room. If it is someone trying to break in, it won’t be from the front of the house... Too much light.
         
It is during times like this when I appreciate our ranch style house. Not a whole lot of corners to negotiate in the middle of the night when I’m not fully mental. I’ll walk down the hallway to the kitchen, turn right, and walk about ten steps to the family room. I can do that in my sleep. No problem.
         
Walking down the hallway, I hear a different noise. It sounds like someone scratching on a window. It’s coming from the family room I think. I must be still dreaming. That scratching sounds just like something I’d hear in a scary movie.
         
As I enter the family room, I can feel my heart beating faster. If this is a dream I’m in, it’s about to turn creepier. What am I gonna’ see when I look out that window? Will I be staring back at the face of some predator peeking in the window to see if anyone is home?  Perhaps it’s that Jason character?

I wish my mind wouldn’t do that!  Especially on missions like this.
Now is the time to really gather up all the courage I can muster.

A flash of light suddenly filled the window pane. My heart jumped into my throat. Was that the face of Jason I saw in that flash of light?
How come I never noticed that lightening before? Come on now, Ed, just because you saw “Friday the 13th” last night doesn’t mean Jason is real. This has got to be a dream.

“Get yourself together!” I say to myself.

          I press my face against the window pane to get a better look at what’s outside. A longer look this time reveals a different eerie scene. The moon is absent in the night sky. The clouds look heavy and ominous. The wind is gusting. The trees appear to be stretching their limbs in a 45 degree angle. I can hear drops of water splatting against the window screen.
         
 The good news is, I saw no Jason, or anything human, animal, or monster looking. It’s just a bad storm so, obviously, I’m not dreaming.
          Off in the distance, I see a faint lightning bolt.
         
Suddenly, I hear what sounds like fingernails scraping across a chalkboard. The thought momentarily crept back in. 'Jason!!'
         
Another look; I see the same moonless sky and tree branches still bending in the gusting wind. I can’t see the source of the scratching, though. That means a trip outside to get a closer look.
         
I grab my raincoat from the closet, find my old pair of slip on shoes, and head out to the back porch and into the chilly air.

There it is again --- scratching... and the tapping… and the sound of a dog barking, perhaps more of a whimper.

Without thinking, I search for the spot where I buried our dog. I buried Sandy out there last year. Is she still in her grave? 

Cheez, Ed! What’s the matter with you? I know it’s the day after Halloween, but this is stupid.

Another flash of light!  A little closer this time. Every hair on my body feels charged with electricity. My body is tingling. Is it from the electrically charged air or from anticipation of what I fear may be coming in the next few seconds.

Another brief splash of light reveals that nothing has changed. There’s still no moon. Those clouds are still huge ominous puffs in the sky. The rain drops aren’t as big as I thought, though. There are just millions of them hitting the ground. It looks like a lake out there. The rain drops appear to be coming straight down like the blade of a guillotine. 
         
The words, “It was a dark and stormy night” pop into my mind. Is this what the author of those words wants his readers to actually feel?
         
There are those noises again.
The metal shed, it’s in the back yard. That must be the source of the scratchy sound.
 
Standing on the edge of the porch didn’t help me see it. I stick my uncovered head out from under the cover of the porch and look toward the shed. 

Another flash of lightening! 

Ow! Ow! Ow! Why didn’t I think about how much a million drops of rain hitting my head would hurt?

The brief look gives me enough of an opportunity to survey the terrain.
The large oak tree next to the shed is now covering the metal building. What a relief that is! I don’t have to deal with it until daylight. Case solved.

But what about that barking dog? Why is it barking?
Reluctantly, I pull my rain coat tighter and head out into the rain. The water from my newly formed lake covers my shoes. My pajama bottoms immediately stick to my legs. The rain pelts my head. It feels like I’m being stung by a swarm of bees. Undaunted, I go on to the sound of the barking dog.

What happens next is totally unexpected and unwanted.
The dog, a stray I’ve never seen before, works itself free from the fallen branches and scampers off.
I should be happy about that. Not me. I had risked my life, limb, and the threat of Jason to see what was happening here.
After all I just went through; it would be nice to tell the story of how I heroically rescued a wounded animal in the middle of a dangerous thunderstorm.

Now all I have to look forward to is going back into the house and trying to give my wife some plausible story as to why I’m so wet.
O! How I wish this would have been a dream! It would have been more rewarding.

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