Lightning flashed – the first stroke I had seen. It lit the western sky in a bright blue arc. Mattie trembled strongly in my arms – all the way from neck to toes she trembled. Her lips pressed together. Her brow furrowed, as if in concentration. Her hand came up and seemed to grab for the back of my neck, as a person falling from a cliff may grasp blindly at anything to hold on just a little longer. Then it fell away and lay limply on the grass, palm up. She trembled once more – the whole delicate weight of her trembled in my arms – and then she was still.
