I have always loved rain. And it was even more beautiful back in college. I could spend hours sitting by my window watching the rain fall on the lake. The dust from the power plant that otherwise covered the Eucalyptuses washed away leaving a refreshing green all around. The smell from the wet soil filled my soul up and I sat there watching the rain drops falling from the leaves hours after it had stopped raining. The wind always blew strong in our campus. It was particularly fierce when it rained. And the April thunderstorms were dangerous. Yet I couldn’t be deterred. There was something about the rain that always attracted me. I liked to be outside when it rained, welcoming it with my arms spread. When I couldn’t, I always had my windows open. I was not afraid of rains and storms like others were. One afternoon I was out strolling through the picturesque tree lined streets of the KTPP Township. It had rained the whole day and the sky was still very overcast. The greenery was refreshing. The streets glittered black. The horse shoe lake flowed and rippled where droplets fell from trees into its water. It was serenity spelled right in front of eyes. And then suddenly it started raining again. I didn’t have time to run to a shed. I was standing under a tree by the lake. Not that I minded. I stood there, watching the rain fall, the wind blow and then suddenly I saw something extra ordinary. I saw a long bolt of lightning, bluish white – it came directly from the clouds and struck the sixth tree from the tree I was standing under. If you haven’t seen it you probably wouldn’t know how impactful a sight that was. It could have been me, the lightning could have struck my tree. But that was not what I was thinking. I was mesmerized by what I had just seen. Strangely the tree seemed alright. There was momentary sparks and smoke was coming out but other than that I didn’t see any damage. This was not something I had read. Perhaps the rain prevented the tree from catching fire! I came back afterwards. I was smart enough to take the warning. But I was content that I had seen something I never expected.Two days later when I went to see the tree again it was all dried and black. The inside of the trunk was hollow. Apparently it had burnt from the inside.And it was then when the thought visited me for the first time, that it could have been me. I was just lucky. But it didn’t scare me. It thrilled me. For the next thought that came to me was, since I loved rain, was awed by this natural phenomenon, nature was just showing off to impress me more. Friends called me crazy when I told them. But I was not deterred. I went to that burnt tree when it rained, as often as I could. Love,
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Riot of Random
