THUNDER

     There was a slight disturbance in the air and the breeze carried a wet smell. The first raindrops touched Katy’s face. She drew back against the rocks and zipped her red jacket shut against her throat. She stuck her hands into her pockets and felt for the carved little toucan she always carried.

     "It’s too hard," Celeste cried out.

     "Then go back," Katy shouted. "You can go back without me. Really, you can just take the trail back down the way we came up. You’ll be fine."

     "We can’t," Celeste said. "We can’t go back without you. Mom will get mad."

     Katy hated giving up at this point when everything above seemed to call out to her to continue. But she felt responsible for Ben and Celeste.

     Abruptly a low rumble sounded through the mountains and Katy felt a vibration shake the ground. She looked down at Celeste and saw her sister staring up into the dark clouds.

     "That was thunder," Ben said, still poking at his Gameboy. "Thunder’s not good. It means lightning and lightning can kill us."

     "Don’t be such a know-it-all," Celeste said. She shot her arms out through her sweatshirt sleeves, then pulled at Ben’s blue jacket. "Come on, we’re going. If we have to, let’s go back without her."

     The rocks touched Katy from behind again and she caught her breath. There was the memory of another touch, a firm hand on her back, below the waist.

     "We’re going back," Celeste shouted.

     Katy’s heart pounded. At the memory of the touch, she began to shake and gasp. She tried to move. She tried with all her might to move, any little muscle, but all she could do was feel herself struggle to breathe. The pounding spread through her body until a clamp tightened in her chest. Once the attack started, her whole body became rigid. She stood frozen, unable to move as she was overcome by the sensation of suffocation and fear.

     Freakazoid.

     "We’re going back," Celeste shouted.

     A flash of lightning streaked out from the darkness above. A huge boom followed. Crackling rumbled out into the canyon, echoing loudly.

     Celeste screamed and Ben leaped up. The two kids took off running downhill.

     Katy felt her hair lift around her cheeks. A prickly heat bristled across her face, but she couldn’t will herself into action.

     A flash of lightning came again and it felt as if it streaked through her. Thunder broke loose and pounded and rumbled out into the canyon.

     Katy saw a small rock teetering beside her. Everything narrowed down to that little rock. Falling from its place, the rock trickled past her boots, rolled across the trail and disappeared over the cliff into thin air.

     If only she could move. Try, she thought. But she saw herself lurching forward and losing her balance, stumbling off the cliff, sinking like the rock through space. She managed to glance up and she saw a dark bird circling high against the sky, a small, black dot escaping into the clouds.

     The next flash came, so close, for another breathless second it felt like the brilliance passed through her. The lightning bolt violently struck the cliff above. It hit so hard and loud, everything banged together and bigger rocks started tumbling across the trail.

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