...thoughts during a thunderstorm.......

          I was awoken by a loud bang a few days ago. Thunder, to be precise. Really loud. The kind that gets my adrenalin flowing to the max. The very first thing I did was to look for Auni, my grandkid. She was at my PC when I dozed off. I was relieved not to see her there. And to notice the "signs" that she had left a long while ago.

          Then came another bang. A trail of fiery light at my doorstep! Froze me for a second. I kicked the door closed. I wanted to check on mum so badly but there was no way I could go down to the main house with all that thunder and lightning.

          This was no ordinary thunderstorm. Lightning was literally chasing the ground. Fire on the street. Bright orange. Scary! Coming every few seconds.

          I pulled all the plugs out of the sockets. And I made it just in time before another lighting strike caused a blackout. Crackling sounds....

          I saw the main house go dark. I thought of mum again. The kids. And the rest of my family. Then I remembered my brother. He had gone to the hills behind our home earlier to fix the water pipes. Our supply comes from a small spring there and something had happened the day before which had disrupted our water supply. My. brother. is. out. there. on. the. hills. in. the. midst. of. a. very. bad. thunderstorm. with. fiery. lightning. pyrotechnics! My blood chilled. Someone had died before on the hills on a day like this.

          I prayed. I felt so helpless. I couldn't check on anyone. I was too scared to use the phone. I couldn't leave my flat. I couldn't hear anything except the rain. I couldn't see much through my window except the bright orange fire coming from the sky....and the thick sheets of water. So, I prayed.

          Out of the blue I thought of the Palestinians. And wondered if they felt this scared every time the bombs rained on them. It must be worse for them I guess...bombs raining down form the sky. The bright orange colour of fire.....

          And I prayed for the Palestinians too. And the folks in Lahad Datu. I prayed for my family members and friends to be safely ensconced indoors.

          It was a long two hours. The minute the rain stopped, I jumped out of my flat, barefooted, and rushed to the main house. Checking on my nieces enroute. Only to find mum absolutely calm and comforting the terrified maid. In the dark. With loud crackling sounds coming from somewhere in the hall. 

          Relieved to see that my brother had gotten home safely. A tree had been hit back there and had toppled. A good thing he wasn't underneath it. His flat underneath mine suffered some damage - power sockets and lights burnt out. The choking smell of burning.

          Everyone was fine. The main house suffered some damage to its power outlets, airconditioners, lights, electrical connectors. But no fire. Alhamdulillah.....Many phone chargers "died" that day at No 30.......