The Butterfly Effect

[{7}]

The gentle of the rain was soft on the glass. It dripped down like seconds. Outside, lightning flashed as thunder trailed after her. Roman couldn't help but to think of his mother.

She loved to tell stories any given moment of day, even during the unremarkable ones. She would've loved that night, puddles growing into ponds out on the streets. It was almost as flooded outside as the drink in Roman's hand.

He sipped his bourbon intently, thoughts stubbornly stuck on the woman asleep in his guest room.

His mother loved a rainy-day story. Roman had loved one of these stories in particular, and had just about made his mother tell it a million times in a million different ways.

He smiled now at the recollection. He loved the story of the siblings born from cloud's acerbic tears.

💧 🌫 💧 🌫 💧 🌫 💧

The God of the Sky from up above and the God of the Waters from down below had a great romance, that was said to have been so spectacular it brought down the sky's tears and gave birth to Lighting and Thunder.

Lightning, who was the firstborn, was quick and nimble like no other. It was said that no being in all the heavens and the earth could outrun her. Blessed by the gods, she was given the honor of being messenger between the sky and the sea. She kind-hearted, fearless, and compassionate, and the world was in awe of her grace.

The God of the Sky, who loved his daughter so, blessed her with beautiful light so she may carry it to his love, down on earth. Lightning worked tirelessly and brought the worlds closer together.

Thunder grew jealous of his older sister. He was clumsy and could never run like Lightning could. He was slow and would never have the job his sister had—the one he dreamed of. He was convinced that she only received the title because of his father's unfair cruelty towards him. Thunder swore to kill her, for if he could not become the elegance of the skies, he would be the fear that clashed into mortals' hearts.

Lightning, afraid of Thunder's monstrous ambitions, sprinted down to the earth in fleeting moments of a great spark to warn her mother. She threw herself from the heavens, plunging down to her death infinite times because of her love for the humans below. Enraged, Thunder roared after her, his wrath reverberating.

But he could never catch her.

Roman chuckled at the memory. He hasn't thought of his mother in decades; he could barely remember her face.

It had been so long since he had last seen her. The last time his eyes ran across her pale eyes, her trembling fingers—he could never forget them. Her tears ran like the rain when she held him in her arms for the last time.

And then she let go, and Roman had never seen her again.

His lips tightened in anger and he clenched his jaw. As much as he had loved her, she was selfish and abandoned him to that empty house.

Long dead and buried in the soil, her stories were the only solace to his lonely now.

🌧 🌧 🌧

It's a weird thing, to wake up in a stranger's apartment. That feeling of estrangement, of not sure how to react when you don't remember the night before or the man who brought you home.

Home, Danielle decided, was definitely not here. Everybody wanted to have a home, like it was some desperate need of belonging that brought them to their studio apartment or mom's place. Danielle knew better than to love somewhere where she had shed blood.

Homes, she learned, were just like cages. The walls that protect you from the rest of the world could just as easily become a delicately fabricated cage, the door locked from the outside.