“I’ll be home soon dear. I love you oh so very much. Buh-bye my sweetness!!”
I hung up using the end call button on my bluetooth jeep’s steering wheel. I knew that my sweetheart wouldn’t be able to pick up the homephone, but she’d definitely be able to hear my voice from the automatic message machine. She stayed home sick but insisted that I go out and enjoy my evening at the dinner party.
I turned the windshield wiper setting up to the max setting as I drove along the dark highway. Snow poured onto my vehicle and the highway like God had knocked over an enormous bag of flour. Although the roads were slick, my trustworthy jeep’s four wheel drive kept me at ease through the blizzard. I squinted to see through the blinding snow and darkness beyond. Although I had the high beams on, I couldn’t see much more that fifteen or twenty feet ahead of me. That was fine by me. I took my time cruising down the highway and back to my humble cottage home. There typically aren’t any other vehicles on the road at one AM during a snowstorm.
I turned off the highway and onto the old dirt road that leads to my secluded little slice of paradise. By the time I pulled into my driveway, my knuckles were throbbing from gripping the wheel so tightly. I sat back in the driver’s seat and breathed a sigh of relief. I enjoyed the car’s heat for a minute longer before I turned off the vehicle and zipped up my winter jacket. I stepped out of the vehicle into shin deep snow. The storm constantly dumped white blankets of snow across everything in sight. The evergreen forest that surrounded my cabin were all covered in frost and snow, almost shining in the distance. I quickly and cautiously made my way to the cabin.
BOOM! Thunder clapped through the skies and for the briefest of moments I was able to see my entire property as though it was a sunny day. Thunder and lightning. During a snowstorm? I thought. Certainly not an impossible phenomenon but it’s not something I’ve seen in my lifetime. There was something else that I found to be odd. There was some sort of large shadow of impossible size looming over my cabin, even as the lightning illuminated the area. I squinted through the snow and into the darkness. Staring at the roof of the log cabin, where the shadow would surely re-appear when the next bolt of lightning strikes, I waited. As the seconds ticked away, my dread grew. Had I imagined a shape of spectacular proportions brooding over my tiny, humble home? After several long moments, the long anticipated second lightning bolt lit up the sky and revealed nothing. My tired and worn out mind was simply playing tricks on me.
I pulled out my house key and unlocked the entrance. After stepping inside of my warm abode, I took a deep breath in and enjoyed the warm, smokey air emanating from the fireplace.
“I’m home love,” I called out in a soft tone as I undressed myself from my outdoor clothing and locked the door behind me. I stepped out from the short entrance hallway and into the open, warm living room. The orange glow from the fire was the only source of light in the small house. I lit a cozy fire for my dear when I left and was happy to see it still burning brightly when I returned. She must have kept it burning for me. How sweet.
Across the room from the fireplace lie my favorite, slightly worn, brown leather couch. There she sat, almost exactly in the same position that I had left her in a few hours earlier. Her tangled mess of brown hair shifted and her face appeared. Poor thing was exhausted, ‘she couldn’t shake this terrible cold that’s been going around’, I thought.
“Hungry?” I asked as I approached her from across the room.
“Mmmmm,” She groggily mumbled. Then she began to slowly shake her head.
“Alright love. We should get you to bed soon.” I sat beside her and put my hands on hers. They were cold as ice and nearly just as stiff. She tried to pull away. “It’s okay dear, the cold doesn’t bother me.” I held her hands tighter.
CRASH! Another bolt of lightning struck nearby. The two of us looked out the window in amazement. BANG!
I felt her hands pull away as I was distracted. I turned to watch her fall off the couch and slowly try to get to her feet. She was groaning and mumbling. I imagine she would have had a lot to say if I hadn’t gagged her. She tried desperately to loosen the ropes bound around her ankles as I stood up and approached her.
“Come now darling, you’re killing me here…” I taunted her. I loved her with all of my heart but she sure knew how to get on my nerves. CRASH! BANG! I pulled her to her feet by grabbing a handful of her hair and yanking. Crying and pleading, the girl squirmed and fought as I dragged her back to the couch. CRASH!
A blinding yellow light flew past me and suddenly everything went dark. As I came to, I realized that the lightning bolt had struck right through my living room window and landed right in front of me. My clothes were all singed and splinters and glass littered the house. An enormous hole in the wall, where the window used to be, allowed for the cold night air and snowstorm to filter into the house relentlessly. The fire was blown out. The girl was gone. My house was ruined. Now I’ll need to find a new secluded home. I slowly rose to my feet. My sin burned and my body ached. I could see my jeep slowly driving down the road in the distance.
“Well… She got away…” I thought outloud. I enjoy the chase and I’ll get her back. I always do. I made my way outside. CRASH! Another bolt of lightning struck. This time what seemed to be electricity gathered around the snowy ground where the bolt had struck. The light wasn’t fading and I could see the full extent of the damage to my house. Examining the hole in my house I noticed the shadow over my property was back. The massive shadow wasn’t a shadow at all. The creature was some sort of giant bird. The beast stood at what had to be twenty feet or so in height. The monster had giant, horrible, lifeless black eyes. It didn’t seem to even notice me. How powerless and small I felt as I gawked at the giant raptor. As lightning sparked through the sky, the bird appeared to absorb some of the lightning. It was almost as though the bolt itself had struck the bird and the bird hadn’t noticed whatsoever. It was completely unphased. The monster slowly surveyed the land, moving its head from side to side. And then it shifted its gaze to me. It ruffled its dark feathers and spread its wings. I couldn’t see how far the wings could spread at their full length. Darkness fell upon the property and the beast fell into darkness. I could no longer see the beast. As the snow fell, I stared up into the darkness. I could have sworn I saw a shadow move. A beak open perhaps. And as I stared up into the darkness, I felt the hot breath of a monster upon me. Now I stared up into the mouth of The Thunderbird.