Rural

Chapter 11: This is the Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 11: This is the Calm Before the Storm

       When something woke me up from my sleep, it had to be for a serious reason since I was quite the heavy sleeper. And right now, the reason for me suddenly waking up in the middle of the night was a heavy thunderstorm happening.

       I reached for my phone to check the time, sighing when I saw what it was. Three in the morning.

       And I noticed my phone was no longer charging despite still being plugged in so I guess that was no power in the house. I laid back down on the air mattress, listening to the rain pounding against the roof and the wind howling loudly. A few times, the wind was strong enough to cause a nearby tree's branches to tap against the wall outside.

       There was no way I was going to get any sleep tonight but at least it was the weekend so I wouldn't have to wake up in a few hours for school.

       I did try falling back asleep but it was no use. I just couldn't fall back asleep.

       I sat up on the mattress, looking over at Sawyer only to be jealous at how peacefully he was sleeping. I was tempted to wake him up so I wouldn't be lonely right now but that wasn't really the nicest thing for me to do. He woke up early every day to do his assigned chores so he could use the sleep right now.

       The storm kept raging on, not showing a single sign of stopping. In fact, it was starting to get a bit worse, lightning and thunder now being added to the mix.

       And I could have sworn I heard a horse's panic whine in the distance.

       I was hoping I was just imagining it but once I heard it again, I knew exactly what horse was panicking.

       Paint.

       I quickly got off of the mattress, heading over to Sawyer and shaking him awake. "Sawyer," I said. "Sawyer, get up."

       Sawyer's response was not one I expected from him. He just turned away from me, covering his head with his pillow.

       So I gave him a response he probably wasn't expecting.

       I grabbed the pillow and starting hitting him with it. "Wake. Up."

       That was all it took so Sawyer to actually sit up, mainly to grab the pillow and stop me from hitting him with it. "Jamie! What--"

       "There's a thunderstorm going on right now and I could hear Paint freaking out," I said. "I'm worried something is going to happen."

       Sawyer didn't take any time getting out of bed so he could help me with Paint. And of course, the first thing I noticed was that he decided to sleep without a shirt on. I was thankfully the lights were turned off and the power was out so he wouldn't be able to see me blush because I could feel my cheeks burning.

       I grabbed a sweater and put it on as Sawyer put on a shirt and then a sweater. We then headed downstairs and to the front door where our shoes were, quickly slipping them before heading outside and to the stables.

       And that was when I saw Paint wasn't in the stables like he should have been since I put him there last night. He was in his field, running around all panicky. 

       "I'll go check the other horses," Sawyer said. "Go get Paint."

       I nodded and hurried to the field as Sawyer went to the stables. I hopped over the fence, making sure Paint saw me before I approached him. I carefully walked towards him, my arms reached out. "Hey," I said as calmly as I could. "It's okay. It's okay. There's nothing to be scared of."