Wind chilled oxygen caresses my lungs as I inhale. I hear the soft crunch of gravel shifting as I move my arms from my side to an outstretched wing position. At my feet, the sun dips below the curve of the Earth illuminating the sky with hundreds of dancing shades: pink, orange, blue and purple.

Thousands of feet directly above my heart’s resting space pressed against the Earth, the daily battle of night and day, dark and light occurs. The bright orange-yellows of the sun fight bravely with the dark blue-purples of night. Colorful warriors of the world’s beauty rage a friendly war across the sky. As time presses on, the light yields more and more allowing the night it’s time to reign over my sky.

At my head, the brilliant and cratered white moon hangs like God’s great lightbulb in the darkness it is joined by. The moon, a great idiosyncrasy in the quickly clouding night. Somewhere in the darkened distance, distracting the world from its whirling silence, thunder begins to rumble.

The sound of leaves rustling like the applause of a quiet audience begins to consume the world around me. The last rays of sunlight lose their war to the darkness and the sun falls away allowing the great night sky it’s reign. Dark gray clouds sweep across the dome of my world. Soon the brilliant light of the moon has been covered by a deep layer of malicious gray clouds. Powerful gusts of wind cause the trees around me to sway as the applause of the leaves becomes something closer to a distant angry roar.

Quicker than I could have imagined the swirling air chills drastically. The wind grazes along my figure raising bumps on my skin and tossing my hair about. Mentally, I tell myself to move and avoid the storm. Physically, my body does not move and I lie still, breathing heavily, preparing for the storm ahead. Trees groan, leaves are ripped from their stems and skid across the earth helplessly. Paralyzing burst of white lightning tear apart the sky followed by malicious cracks of thunder.

Suddenly, the world falls into an odious silence. The breath catches in my lungs. The deafening sound of silence rings in my ear. Frantically, I plead with my body to pull itself up from the ground. The sky growls like a predator while I dig my fingers into the earth around me; holding on to the only solid and stable thing I know.

The most radiant, villainous bolt of lightning shreds the sky apart and slams into the earth adjacent to me. Malevolent thunder laughs boastfully at me. Cold rain pounds the earth and my body like a barrage of bullets. The trees around me twist in the wind causing branches and trunks to snap. Lightning relentlessly claws at the Earth drawing nearer and nearer to me.

Tears of fear escape me as the storm rips apart all I knew of the world around me. I grasp the earth beneath me with a white knuckled grip, holding tight to my fundamental source of comfort and safety in this dark and ruinous night. My eyes shut tight in attempt to shut out even the tiniest part of the destruction. Wind screams at me and thunder claps against my eardrums.

I scream then. I don’t know for how long, but I open my mouth and let loose all the frustration and fear that had built up in me. As I let go of all that I had built up I give my trust completely to the unshakable earth, my solid rock and firm foundation. I cling to it and trust it wholly to carry me through the storm.

I find peace then, clinging to the most solid thing I know. When my eyes finally dare to peek back out into the world they find a new scene. The storm has calmed and from somewhere above my head the sun rises, its luminous golden rays shattering the last remaining bits of the catastrophic tempest. At an almost unnatural pace, the skies clear allowing the beautifully gleaming sun to again rule the sky and the world beneath it.

Staring up into the stunningly blue sky, I breathe again as if for the first time. My breaths come stronger than before. I push myself into a sitting position with ease and take in the world around me that is broken but winsome. Once on my feet, I find newfound strength in my bones. Looking around I see a stronger world ready for mending. The earth had carried me through the storm, kept me safe and brought me back with new strength.

I look at my world again, it is strong at core, broken from the storm, yet ready for repairing.

Wind chilled oxygen caresses my lungs as I inhale, stronger than before. I hear the soft crunch of gravel shifting as I move one foot in front of the other. Behind me, the brilliant gold sun rises and walks with me into the world.