Green and Gray

We’re in the mountains. Just the two of us. Dusk. Gray, not black. The insect sounds are everywhere. The bright green trees drip with early summer heat. We’re dressed up. Clean. Smell great. We’ve escaped from a gathering. We can hear the laughter, the glasses clinking. Fun and conversations being had. Neither of us hate it, but we don’t want to be anywhere except here. In the distance, thunder rumbles. The sky turns purple from lightning we cannot see. Now is our time. We could go back into the gathering, surround ourselves with beaming smiles under the white fairy lights.

Or we could run.

Deeper into the woods, away from the storm, into the darkness, and wait for it. Wait to get caught. Out in it.

I imagine the others, the storm forcing them inside, their night ruined.

But I’m here with you, outside, in the dark, waiting for the storm to break over us.