The breeze blew down from the top of the mountain pushing its way through the heat and humidity.  It rushed through her kitchen window filling the small room with the smell of crisp cool air.  Blowing her hair back off the tackiness of her face and neck as she stood there washing dishes.  The room had a slight relief from the heaviness of the air.

She looked out the window and up thought the trees.  There she saw the storm taking shape.

Standing, briefly mesmerized by the sky, she then mindlessly put down her work.  All day she had pushed herself to get all her work done.  Now, she was walking away from it.

As she walked outside, the full force of the breeze hit her.

She loved evenings like this, when a storm rolls down the mountain.

The tall trees bent with the push of the wind and several leaves let go of their branches dancing and swirling through the air like a lover’s ballet. The clouds were in turmoil, rolling and churning, slowly building strength yet moving ever so slowly.  A rumbling like ancient drums sounded in the distance, giving a promise of a light show to come.

She stood in her back yard and looked up to the sky feeling the energy spark to life around her.  She let the wind whip through her, giving it no resistance, as though she were permeable.  The stress from her day seemed to blow effortlessly away, and she envisioned it being whisked away down the mountain and into the creek below.

The first drops of rain plopped playfully onto her face, tickling her skin.  Smiling, she waited for her cleansing shower to come.

Wiggling her toes and grounding her feet, the earth still felt warm.  A memory from the hot, humid day.

Rain fell heavier and she could hear the earth sigh around her as it slowly softened with the wet release.

She felt her worries and pain drip from her body and soak into the ground around her.

The cool rain landed on her, but turned warm as it ran down her body gently, almost erotically soaking her clothes and making them cling heavy against her.

The dirt and dust from her chores of the day washed off her clothes, her body and her hair.

She closed her eyes offering herself to this release and relaxed, possessed by and absorbed every sensation.

As she became enveloped in the feeling, she felt a sense of detachment flow though her.  This gave her a calmness, a lightness that seemed to take her away from her physical body.

An image came to her mind’s eye.  An undine riding the wave of rain, masculine in deep shades of grey.  His hair flowing behind him as he gracefully moved with the storm.

He moved over her, hovering, observing.  Then he wrapped himself around her and started to investigate and examine.  He ran his fingers through her hair sending tingles down her spine.

Each flap of his wings blew her clothes free from their sticky attachment to her body allowing the rain to penetrate everywhere.

She felt him pull her hair up curiously and twisted it around as if it were being picked up by a funnel cloud.

She felt him encircling her as the storm intensified.

Her body began to sway.

The earth beneath her feet is now soft and gooey, making it hard to keep her footing.

The undine began to move in violent surges, towards her, away, above, and below, all around making her heart beat faster as the energy of the storm intensified.  Should she be afraid?

The thunder pounded louder reverberating through her core.  Lightening flashed all around in the sky above her and she could feel the arcs of energy in the air.

She felt him back away, the heavy draft beating against her keeping pace with the beating of her heart as he retreated back into the storm.

Then for a moment, everything stopped.

She slowly opened her eyes.

The rain had stopped, the trees were tranquil, and the undine was gone – was he really ever there?

Her hair was a soaked, knotted mess clinging to her skin along with her clothes.

A large, dark cloud loomed just above the canopy of the forest in front of her.

The storm seemingly hesitated, rumbling menacingly, lightening flickering far in its depths.  She felt as though it watched her as its billowing thick cloudy mist caressed the tops of the trees.

That split second she was suspended, hypnotized by the sight, caught between fear and a strange sexual desire, feeling intoxicated after the drenching cleanse she had just experienced.

A fragmented moment of blissful peace.

Then the dark cloud moved, ever so slightly.  She thought she saw the face of the undine melded in the mass.  His hair entangled in the waiting wind and mist, wings restraining it all back.  His tail off in the distance stirring the lightening into a frenzy.

He opened his mouth and took a deep, slow breath.

At that same moment, the air behind her blew up the hillside towards the top and into the gaping clouds.

The clouds grew larger, darker, deeper.  Then seemed to burst forward with a rush of stinging wind, pelting rain and charge of lightening.

The oaks creaked and moaned under the pressure.

She was blown off balance as the storm engulfed her.

She struggled to get back inside.  Her lights flickered and went out.

Standing in the darkness, the storm raged around the house, begging to come in.

The rain beat its pleading song against the windows.  The wind whistled though any cracks it could find.

She sat on her bed and laid back against her pillows, catching her breath.

A peace fell over her as she listened to the storm outside.

Rolling to her side, she watched out her front windows as the air and earth around her home danced in perfect harmony.

The storm rolled down the mountain and over her little house.  The wind still bellowing its call for her to join.

The clouds tumbled and rolled down towards the creek below.

She closed her eyes and sunk into her bed enjoying the softness of her covers and pillows, still feeling damp and finally cool.

As she drifted off to sleep, she once again saw the undine. 

He lingered under the clouds just above the flowing water of the creek.  He seemed to look up at her, knowing her thoughts.

Rain water flowed down the ridges of the mountains in a fulfilling rush of churning water falling until it reached the creek and causing it to swell.

He casually dipped his fingers into the rushing water as he glided with the storm, tenderly caressing his lover.

He faded around the bend of a mountain and the storm soothed into a sated calm.

The residual rain patted melodically on her roof in a simple whisper, rhythmically lulling her into a deep, restful sleep.