Storm

The last rays of the sun clung desperately to the hills, their long fingers clawing at the ground, stubbornly resisting the oncoming darkness. Slowly, one by one, they gave up their battle until the last solitary soldier disappeared in a blaze of red beyond the horizon.
As the night flooded in the stars above twinkled their victory dance and the moon smiled down, silently congratulating her loyal troops. However, as quickly as the heavens had been revealed they were hidden away again. A ghostly army of cloud charged over the mountain peaks obliterating all in its path, the cavalry of the sky.
A heavy sheet of rain fell to the ground, bouncing of the cobbles and turning the dusty dirt tracks into sludgy torrents of silt, mud and water. The usual soft tinkling of cowbells was lost in the ferocious roar of the wind that whipped round every corner and through every crack of the tiny village. Trees shook from the deep depths of their roots and the eldest were plucked from the soft soil as easily as feathers are pulled from a chicken. The younger ones, which still contained some strength, dug down and held on as tightly as they could. A flash of lightning lit up the valley and for a second everything seemed to freeze as if it was waiting for something to happen. Instantly the moment was lost and darkness regained control as the deep throated growl of thunder spread through the air causing the very ground to shake. It was as if the skies had summoned all their demons of hate and wrath and released them at once to wreck havoc on the Earth below.
Slightly higher up from this little village stood a wretched hut, shaking violently as wave after wave of raw power beat down on it. The thin walls wobbled and crumbled with each beating and the few tiles that remained spiralled up into the air as if they were leaves. Still the building clung stubbornly to the hillside. Something about that night should have made me realise .
Inside came screams that did well to rival the noise of the storm. However, they were not those of fear or anguish but the agonising cries that every mother would recognise.