[منى هلال]

6

The sound of thunder woke me up tonight. It was dark, but the lightening illuminated the sides of the room and I could see everything very clearly. The door was closed and my sister was fast asleep and the house was quite and still. I was scared of the continuous clapping of thunder. It was so loud it felt as if the whole world were coming to an end. I got out of bed and walked to the window. The rain drops outside looked like lines of thread joining the sky to the earth. I was startled when my stepmother opened the door suddenly and asked me why I was out of bed so early. The surprise got me all tongue tied and I couldn’t answer. I walked back to my bed and wrapped myself in the covers. I heard her say, “Don’t leave your bed again. You might wake your sister up and the sound of thunder would frighten her.” I whispered, “Is the thunder going to last very long?” She said, “Only God knows” as she walked out of the room.
I put my fingers in my ears to block the sound of thunder then started reading 'Surat Al-Ikhlas' while my mother's image filled my vision.0