The dark of midnight hit me.
A ton of black velvet,
Studded with the diamonds of a billion stars.
The lightning flashed impudently,
Slashing across my vision.
A cruel knife of electricity.
Thunder's roar deafened me,
Waves of sound crashing and breaking against my brain.
All the elements of nature,
Expressed the wrath of a thousand beings.
All of whom despise me.
The air,
A million pounds of moisture,
Choked away my breath.
I could not bear it.
Much more and I would give in.
The midnight sky, itself
Now curtained behind the thunderheads.
I would let it in.
Another wave of thunder bashed against my brain.
Lighting slashed my sight into a trillion tiny pieces.
The night,
The storm,
They knew they had me,

Clenched in their gigantic fists,
Fighting for my life.
A new sound broke through the sea of noise.
Rain,
Blessed rain,
The bane of all who care for vanity.
The rain that pulled me back into myself,
And fought to keep me there.
Needles of freezing water
Beat a tattoo against my bowed head.
Slowly my sight returned,
As I blinked the jeweled drops from my lashes.
The sea parted before the new challenger,
And the pounding stopped.
Slowly,
Ever slowly,
The rain stopped and the clouds cleared,
Revealing a clean washed night.
A night of the blackest velvet,
Studded with billions of diamonds.