Storm Locked

“Mair, get up. It’s shaping up to be a real storm.”

                I groan and roll over. Being the only one raised to tell weather, I doubt when someone else tries to tell me about it. Someone decides to sit on me. Out of breath and irritated, I roll over and shove them off of me.

                “I’m up, I’m up. What do you guys want at this ungodly hour of the day? A weather report?”

                I open sleep blinded eyes to the brightness of a thousand lights, meaning it must be close to midday. I squint until my eyes have adjusted. John, Rowan, and Lily are sitting in a semi-circle around me, eyes wide with worry. I look at each of them with heavy lidded eyes, checking for anything abnormal.

                John’s russet colored skin is slightly flushed from his morning hunt. His course black hair is still a mess, though he’s made some attempt at smoothing it down, it refuses to do so. The end result is a mass of hair sticking in all directions. Rowan, who I remembered to be a pale kid from childhood, is tan from hours spent in the sun farming. His mop of chocolate brown hair is very compliant, staying out of his eyes when moved and staying down when patted. Lily’s fair skin and light hair are the envy among us. She has only a slight tan because she only goes outside occasionally. She mostly stays inside to do menial tasks such as weaving and cleaning. When I’m not away checking weather, I like to spend my time with her.

                I widen my eyes then let them fall in to place. Having opened my eyes a few times I look harder at them. All of them are flushed and jittery, something that only happens when something is about to go down. All of them are a little pale despite the sun, showing their fear. My earlier doubts are being overshadowed by fear. What if this is it? What if this is the storm that wipes us out? We’ve had plenty of storms before, and survived even the worst of them. But we’ve all known there is only so much we can do against the odds. I hop up and brush myself off, an air of business around me. John, Rowan, and Lily take that to mean they can stand. I head down the beach to the hill where I keep my weather devices.

                “Tell me how you came to this conclusion.” I call over my shoulder as I check my weather devices. The weather vane is lazily spinning about, making a low groaning noise. I feel someone approach and glance over my shoulder, then continue with what I was doing. Lily is hesitantly approaching but stops a few feet away.

                “I was up this morning to hang the wash out to dry and it was abnormally cloudy. The breeze was also a bit cooler than usual. I was really worried because we normally don’t see this kind of weather unless we’re getting a storm. I was worried and a little scared so I went and got Rowan.” She nods a couple of times before retreating down the hill to sit down and lean against John’s legs. I feel a spark of jealousy but I don’t let it get to me.

                Lily and Rowan have come out about their feelings for each other and tend to show it off. A lot. They expect me and John to pair off but John seems more than happy to stay friends, so I don’t push him. We do have our moments though. I remember one night I couldn’t sleep so I had gotten up and gone to my weather instruments. I had sat on the hill and looked at the stars, wondering how people can base their whole lives off their twinkling. I felt like someone was looking at me and rolled my head to the side. John was settling down next to me, unable to sleep either. He glances over and smiles, then continues to look at the stars. I stare at him for a while longer, studying his profile. He looks back and catches me staring. Embarrassed, I act like I am studying the stars. When I feel an arm pulling me, I look over at John only to see his face is inches from mine. He leans in and lightly touches my lips with his. I can still remember the flutter in my stomach, the urge to get closer. All too soon he had pulled away and was walking back. I come back to now and the imminent problems at hand. I sigh and open my eyes. Rowan is standing beside me waiting to continue his contributions. Once he knows he has my attention he continues.