Michelle

The world is divided in two.

On one side, the great vastness of the outback looks severe against the dark grey sky. On the other, the sun struggles to keep itself placed against the blue- cloudless sky stretched kilometres away.  The summer air wraps itself around me like a thick doona making it heavier for my legs to pull themselves from the ground. Only I know that the smell of rain warns me of his coming.  White, sandy cliffs stand proudly against the thin, scrawny ghost gums- mostly leafless- against the horizon…

BOOM! I love how the silence of the outback makes your heart jump! Watch as the shadows of the sky silently creep and seep the blue, cloudless sky turning the world into a dark lifeless dome.  The sun losing its sky. Hurry. I must hurry on. Only the residence of the outback will tell you that when he comes, Nature will leave you no mercy. No outback will shelter you against his immense power. Not even the king of the sky- the Wedge Tail Eagle- is to be seen screeching and circling mightily against the sun.

The outback is now only a vast lifeless land with no a speck of blue. A streak of bright light seems to crack the heavens open. BOOM! CRACKLE! The thunder roars victoriously.  His coming draws near.  I sit safely inside a small cave at the bottom of the cliff. Like many of the residence of this outback, I watch on as Nature puts on a frightening show. He shows off more lightning, raking the sky and thunders - roaring his malicious laughter. What beauty! What power he has!  But can you hear the rain pelting hard against the dry, surfaces of the outback? The blue sky cries for him to end his scare on earth.

 Listen.

Can you hear the rain pelting hard against the dry, surfaces of the outback? How about his thunderous laughter fading away?  That, as the wise outback tells me, is the cries of our sun beseeching him to stop his rampage on her people…  With a sense of peace, the storm hears her burden and contentedly allows the sun's rays pierce through those dark grey clouds. Slowly, he passes like the sad clown. The Sun's soft rays slowly call her people out of their shelters as he dissipates silently into nothing but the blue sky.