semi-auto-story

Narrative

The lightning struck burning the sky with white hot light. The came the thunder like a drum smacked against his ears. In front of him the kids dropped to the ground in fear. The sky darkened and the rain poured heavier. He watched as the boys hopped toward the trees like a herd of graceful white tails. The red mud of Comanche peak flowed along the sides of the trail washing away all life. His heart beat in his ears. Accompanied by a ringing. A loud persistent ring. His vision blurred and …
Joaquin sat up in bed the comforter flopping to the floor. In an instant he realized the noise was coming from the alarm clock that sat high up on his book shelf. Annoyed he groggily stood up and went to shut it off. Without the clock his room was eerily quiet. The sky had not yet woken and his room was held in shadows of the early hours of dawn. He was too awake to go back to bed.
The bathroom light was an irritating yellow and it made his eyes hurt. So he turned it off. The water of the shower was warm and it ran down his hair in currents of comforting pleasure. He leaned his head against the cold tiles of the shower and closed his eyes.
His eyes watched as heavy rain ran off the hood of his jacket and fell to the ground with a splash. His boots had soaked through at the unprotected tongue and water seeped through his jacket wetting his shirt and freezing his skin. One arm was in the layers of his clothes folded over his chest clutching at any heat left. The other arm was cold wrapped around the outside of his coat, his fingers shivering in the air. The rain fell on his thin shorts and ran down his bare legs. Every inch of him was drenched.the rain poured on like rocks hitting metal. And voices yelled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9…
10 o'clock, the sun was bright as it rose over the shops. It was hot and his collar was tight. He wouldn’t have minded if it had been soft. But  the material of the shirt irritated his skin. He looked quite formal in his turquoise button up shirt and black pants, A plastic name tag pinned to his chest. Beside him stood his sister Isabel, in a flowing skirt and embroidered top, with a concha belt and turquoise jewelry adorning her extremities. A fashionable pair of red cowboy boots noisily clacking against the pave stones. She always dressed up more than he did. Both of them had their hair braided and each carried a piece of their artwork. The comforting feel of pinewood and leather under their fingertips the church bells rang and the line began to move.
The crowd of people passed one face after another. It was less busy than the day before but still it was busy. Then their was a face Joaquin recognized. A light skinned woman with fly away hair and a huge toothy smile. Accompanying her was a boy with caramel brown skin and dark hair and eyes. Joaquin’s best friend Tomas.
They had an hour deadline and the entire plaza to explore. They’d already seen most of the art separately so instead they walked down one of the side streets. Joking around like all kids do. They saw some people they knew and a lot they didn’t.