My Idea Of A Romantic Date: Getting Caught In A Storm

The sky began pouring without much warning late yesterday afternoon. It was a storm, complete with drenching amounts of water, lightning flashes, thunders that echoed across the large expanse of sky and a shadow across the land.

I was travelling by bus to Comfort Driving Centre for my Final Theory test as the storm grew darker, wetter and noisier. In spite of having my Pokemon umbrella sheltering me, half my knee-length Bermudas was soaked by the time I arrived at the centre.

As I was traveling, amidst the discomforts of having soggy soles, I was thinking about how the sudden change of weather was rather romantic. Instead of focusing on the soil-viruses-contaminated puddles, couples huddled under shared umbrellas caught my eye and smiles more. There was even an umbrellaless foolhardy boyfriend who cycled out to the bus-stop to pick up his pink-umbrella-wielding girlfriend. She held the umbrella for both her and her drenched boyfriend, and sat sideways on the beam between her darling and the hand bars, as he cycled them both home. She smiled at the tender attention she had from her man, while he beamed with the male pride of protecting his female partner... The joys of stupidity that come with youthful love (with no condescending implications whatsoever).

Just as I was getting unusually contented and comfortable in the weather, boys and men caught without their umbrellas ran past me in a frantic manner to reach the driving school on time for their 7PM session. Bursts of sudden strong light from the multiple flashes of lightning cast eerie sporadic clarity to my surroundings. Shortly following those flashes was menacing loud thunder that conjured up the image of some angry and vindictive sky god. The plain volume of it would shake even the calmest man for a moment. I began to shudder because of the cold as I walked against the chilly, wet wind and also because of the images invoked by my sudden exposure to the elements from the moment I got off my second bus.

In the most damsel fashion, I wished Ly was there with me at that very point, holding both the umbrella up above our huddled heads, and me close to him as we walk with unnatural but comforting proximity.