That Night, Lightning DID Strike In the Same Place Twice...

I could hear the rain pattering on the window pane. To some, it’s a comforting sound. Some can even fall asleep to it. Not me. Not since the night my sister disappeared.

We’d never been close. Out interests varied vastly, and as children we spent more time tattling on one another than actually playing together.

We were home alone together. Both of us were supposed to be doing homework, but since our parents weren’t home, we did as we pleased. I have no idea what she was up to. I just remember walking past her bedroom door and seeing her painting her nails. I rolled my eyes and settled in my bed, shoving my headphones into my ears to listen to music.

Lightning was racing outside my window, striking so fast that the thunder couldn’t keep up. Instead it drawled in a constant rumble. I turned off my lights and opened my window to enjoy the show. It was mesmerizing, beautiful almost. I had totally zenned out until I watched a bolt buzz down and hit the tree just outside my window. Flames sparked, igniting the dry wood of the old tree.

I jolted out of bed, hardly noticing as my headphones were pulled from my ears. I watched the tree start to burn, when right before my eyes, it was struck again, right at the heart of the flames.

Finally, my brain caught up with my eyes. I ran to tell my sister, in case she hadn’t noticed our tree was on fire. Her room was dark. My sister was nowhere to be seen.

The bottle of nail polish was still open, tipped over to its side. I stood in her door frame, watching the tree burn from her window as the pink contents of the glass bottle spilled onto the hardwood floor, creating a stain that to this day, nobody has had the heart to clean.