It has been far too long since I went dancing in the rain.

It poured last night. It started with just lightning. The sky was flashing like a strobe light. Elijah was asleep, so I stole outside to see it. I could've stayed on the balcony, but felt too confined there. I wanted to see the lightning and feel the thunder rumble in my skin. The air was dense and warm, like a velvet robe just out of the dryer or thick tomato soup. I stood with my face turned up to the sky, walked in the grass and felt the droplets of new rain on my feet. I wished that we lived miles from anyone, because it was warm enough that I wouldn't really need clothes, and I wanted to feel the humid air on every skin cell.

The storm came closer and the thunder began to intensify. Now I could see the forked tongues of the lightning coming straight down from heaven to the horizon. The crackling that followed was incredibly real, incredibly detailed - I spend so much time listening to digitized music and forget how real the world is.

And then the real rain came. Up until then, it was warm, but the droplets were cool and fresh, pressing my clothing against my skin. I spun around in the rain, happy to be alive.\

It has been far too long since I went dancing in the rain.