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The dark clouds were approaching us at an alarming rate of speed. Already I was beginning to feel the first flecks of rain striking my face. The rest of the group, now sensing how fierce this storm was shaping up to be, began to scatter, each person heading for their own cabin. My own place wasn't much further down the path, perhaps just one hundred yards. Still, I broke into a quick trot rather than risk getting soaked by the downpour which was surely only moments away.
I had nearly reached the front door of my cabin when something stopped me dead in my tracks.
BOOM!! CRACK!!
A tremendous clap of thunder roared through the air, followed by a blinding flash of lightning! For a moment I was blinded by the brightness of the light. The bolt had reached down with an icy hot finger and hit a large oak tree only a few feet off to my side! The tree shuddered and groaned from the blow. I saw the beginnings of a fire starting to lick its way around the tree's massive trunk. Then...
CRACK!
The power of the lightning had been too much for the tree! It was beginning to snap! It swayed back and forth like a boxer who had just been punched, doing his best to keep from toppling over. But another powerful gust of wind swept through the campground, and it was the last straw for the mighty tree. For an agonizing moment it held out, then it came crashing down towards the ground!
“Look out!” A fellow camper behind me was crying frantically. “It's coming straight for you!!”
The whole ordeal had happened in a matter of seconds but I had been transfixed by it. I stood in awe as the tree fell in my direction. The voice behind me jolted me back to reality and with no time to spare I turned and dove back to avoid the tree that was coming for me.
CRUNCH!!
The tree missed me by only a few feet. I had been fortunate, but my cabin had not been. The massive tree smashed down on the roof, shattering it and sending large pieces of the house flying into the air and then raining down around me like bits of shrapnel! I stared in shock at the destroyed cabin that only moments before I had been about to enter. Then, as if on cue, the rain came rushing in. It felt more like a waterfall than a rain shower. The water rolled down in torrents, soaking me in seconds and turning the dirt into a field of mud!
I struggled to my feet, soaked to the skin and now covered in brown mud as well. Pete, one of the campers I had met a few minutes earlier, braved the storm to make sure I was okay.
“Hey, buddy! You alright??” He asked, shielding his face from the rain with his hand.
“Yeah..” I stammered. “Man, I was almost killed!”
“No kidding!” He exclaimed. “But we need to get out of here! It doesn't look like this storm is going to get any milder for a while!”
“You're right.” I shouted over the rain. “Lead the way!”
With that, we turned and headed towards a large barn where Pete and some other families had chosen to hole up during the storm.