A Tale of Escape and Desire

The storms stopped. So did the excuses.

Without rain, I couldn’t justify leaving Sam. Couldn’t drive into the wet, say I was chasing lightning, and then detour to Nina. For two months, we had just one encounter. My drought returned. Hers too, though she never said it. I told her work had piled up. She nodded, distracted, never pressing. She liked the order, the ritual. So did I—until silence grew sharp edges.

I began watching the sky again. I refreshed the weather radar obsessively. I needed clouds, cells, anything dark. Nothing came. Only blue skies. A perfect world. Sterile. Deceitful.

I missed the chaos.

Storms were a covenant between the Beast and me. They gave me permission to escape my marriage, to cross over into Nina’s sanctuary where the rules didn’t apply. But now the map was dry. My libido curled up like roadkill on hot tarmac.

I stared at the Bureau’s radar like a starving man at an empty plate, whispering, “Give me black. Just a little red, even.” Red meant rain. Black meant bliss. Black was where the Beast lived.

And I was ready to feed him again.

But the sky remained loyal to Sam.

[from SEETHINGS, downloadable and free for a limited time].