This is dedicated to my sister, who is truly a storm child.

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The Storm Child

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

The wind sped over the land, black clouds clustered, and thunder rolled over the hills like a wave. And I was wandering through the dale. The rain came quickly, in sheet upon sheet, almost as if it were solid. As I trudged through the torrent, I felt a strange sensation run up my spine. The presence was alien, I’d never felt anything like it before and haven’t since. I looked up the hill I faced, and saw her, the Storm Child.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

I stared at her awhile. I stared at her electric blue eyes, watching them reflect the lightning. I looked into her blue orbs and saw the loneliness and pain that shadowed there. I looked deep into her eyes, and realized that they belonged to someone older then the twelve-year-old girl that stood before me. Eyes that have seen since the beginning of the world.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

As I examined her further, I noted her white flowing hair that swirled in the wind. Her hair was floating in the gale strength winds, causing a halo around her head. Hair that writhes as though it has a life of its own.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

As she stood there, she started to cry. I watched in pity as pearly tear drops streamed down her pale face. I understood why she cried, the pain in her eyes said as much. Then I realized why it rains. Her tears will only fall with the rain.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

That chant kept running through my head. I didn’t understand. I couldn’t possibly hear her voice over the storm. A thunder crack, made me cover my ears in surprise. With my ears covered the storm was slightly muffled; the chanting was not. My eyes widened. She was not using her voice, but her mind! Her thoughts projected over mountains and through storms, never losing its power.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

I listened to her as she chanted. As I listened I walked closer, trying to understand what she said. I finally stood in front of her and realized that the words she chanted were a spell. A spell that brought the storms.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

I smiled at her, as she chanted her spell. I smiled for the strength that she must posses to continue living through the millennium. As her eyes came into focus, she noticed my presence for the first time. She stiffened in shock, first at my presence, then for my smile.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

She stared at my smiling face and I kept smiling at the confusion on her face. She stared, and I stared and smiled. Finally, she saw no fear or hate in my eyes and smiled at me. I nodded to her and she greeted me like-wise, silently we acknowledged each other.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

She started her chant anew and I understood what she wanted.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

I chanted with her, as the rain poured down and the thunder rolled, the wind blew, and the lightning flashed. We chanted through the night, and the rain grew steadily weaker. When the dawn came, the storm was but a drizzle. The Storm Child and I watched as the first rays of the rising sun rose over the distant hills. We turned to face each other and smiled at the beauty in the dawn.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light…”

I whispered as the last of the clouds dispersed. The Child turned to go, but paused when I took a step toward her.

“Thank you…”

Her crystalline voice went through my head. She turned back to me hands extended in offering. My head tilted to the side, but I extended my hands to take the gift. She dropped it into my cupped hands, then, without a word, turned and continued her endless journey, humming happily to herself.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light.”

I sang as she walked away.

“Come together within my sight.”

She replied as she walked; her thoughts happy and light.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light.”

I continued singing. Tears of the joy of meeting and sorrow of depart trickled from my eyes.

“Make this day as black as night.”

Her voice echoed as she passed over the distant hills and out of sight. I turned toward the rising sun as it passed over the last hill. Only then I remembered the gift. I looked into my clasped hands to see the most beautiful necklace. The wire shone like solid lightning, pearls and diamonds like the tears of the storm. And last, the pendant of moonstone glowed softly in the morning light; to show our friendship as eternal.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light…”

I whispered to myself, full of awe at the friend I had made that night. I slowly turned and, continuing the journey I had started weeks ago, walked onward; never to see the Storm Child again.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

Now I sit by the window, staring into the darkening sky. It has been a score of years since I met the Storm Child. I’ve now been married seven years, with a daughter of my own. My love comes into the kitchen, dropping the little one on my lap. She is fretful, and wary of the distant thunder.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

I croon to the child, soothing her with the powerful lines. She quiets as she hears her favorite lullaby, the one I’ve always sung. I hug her close and rock her gently; for she is the most beautiful gift that the Storm Child had given me. Her hair is as black as the raven, her skin as pale as the moon, and eyes that shone like the moonstone necklace about her throat.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

I’ve never told my love of the Storm Child, so I’m the only one that knows that my daughter was a gift. She was born on a stormy night; that in its self was very strange, for the day was fine and warm. When she came she neither cried nor squirmed, and quietly listened to the rain pounding against the roof. I was positive that the beautiful baby in my arms was a gift from the friend I had made that stormy night on Dawn’s Hill. The Storm Child didn’t come, but I sang softly, as I always do with a storm, and thought I heard a reply echoing over the distant hills.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

Now my daughter is dozing. She doesn’t fear the storms, but the noise of the thunder hurts her ears. I’m gazing out the window at the pouring rain, wondering where my friend is.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light…”

I still keep singing, even though my daughter sleeps.

“What is that song? Why do you sing it when it rains?”

My daughter’s voice surprises me into silence. I stare into her curious eyes; her head tilts to the side, repeating the question silently. I smile, for I am going to tell her what no other mortal knows.

“It’s something I learned from an old friend of mine. I was hoping she might hear, and be happy.”

She looks at my face; hers much too thoughtful for the seven years she’d lived. She looks out the window, then back to my face, then to the window, then to my face.

“Will she come to visit?”

I smile at the intelligence of the question. She truly was a daughter of the storm.

“No, my child. She wouldn’t enter our home, no matter how welcome she would be.”

My daughter’s eyes brighten with interest at these words and asked her own.

“Who is she? How do you know her? What is the song for?”

I laugh aloud and decide to end her questions.

“She is your god mother, and she’s probably as old as time its self. The song is hers; she was singing it when I met her.”

My daughter is quite for a minute, staring out the window. I look too. The storm is just as it was that night, on Dawn’s Hill. My daughter seems surprised.

“Do you hear that? Someone is singing.”

I listen and after a pause in the sound of the storm, when the rain lessened and the wind slowed; I hear a crystalline voice echo through the night.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

I and smile at my daughter. Her eyes widen as she listens.

“That’s her.”

I say to my quiet daughter. I sing as well.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

I sing for the Storm Child to hear. I want her to know that she isn’t alone. My daughter listens as my voice blends with the mysterious one from over the hills.

“Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Come together within my sight.

Wind, rain, thunder, and light

Make this day as black as night.”

Then the sounds of the storm came back, drowning out the song that summoned them. The little girl is wide eyed; she had witnessed a ritual of the storms. I smile at her, and she slowly smiles in return.

“Shall I tell you the story of how I met her?”

The child nods eagerly and, making herself comfortable, readied to listen to what would be a magical tale.

“This happened many years before I was wed, but this is how I met the Storm Child.”

I smile down at the beautiful child in my arms, and think about how this story, is somehow her story as well.

“‘The wind sped over the land, black clouds clustered, and thunder rolled over the hills like a wave. And I was wandering through the dale. The rain came quickly, in sheet upon sheet, almost as if it were solid…’”

The End/Beginning

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This is my favorite. It captures my love of the storms, magic, and mystery.

Also note that this is a gender neutral story. I never mention whether the traveler is male or female. If you didn't notice, read it again.

I want to know what you liked, what you didn't, and what you felt while reading this.

Zoa the Twilight Wyvern