Thunderous Shock

The day had been one of clear skies and a light breeze. The mundane weather matched my uneventful day. I went to bed that night without a thought in my head. The balcony door was open letting the Bangalore night breeze enter the room through the grills. I pulled the quilt tighter around myself and drifted off into a dreamless sleep. I didn’t even notice the dry breeze turn into a moist one.

I awoke with a start to loud noise. Like an explosion. It didn’t LOOK any different outside… but the sheer volume of the sound sent a chill down my spine. Images of children screaming in Malegaon and Bombay flashed across my mind. How bad would the damages be? How many people would be left without family this time? I was alive…so which part of town had the bomb exploded? I was fretting about my grandparents and friends in different parts of town when I noticed that it was now pouring hard outside. Thunder. Not a terrorist attack. Thunder. Why was a bomb the first thought to enter my head?

Though that night, I drank a glass of water, and went back to sleep, I couldn’t get the uneasy feeling out of my stomach for days.