Chapter Eight: Astraphobia

For those of you who live in my area, you know that April showers really do not happen in April, but happen in May. Well, guess what month it is, and guess what is in full swing at this very moment?
That's right - a thunderstorm!

Waaaaah.

So, since this is quite relevant, I thought I would share a secret with my small audience. I have self-diagnosed myself to have Astraphobia. I have a terrible fear of thunderstorms. You can ask my parents, I am worse than the majority of the dog population. Thunderstorms, for me, usually involves a night full of no sleep, tears, anxiety, and the Weather Channel. 

I am not sure if I have always been this way. My grandmother and aunt love to tell me about how, apparently, when I was a kid, I would describe "Thunder and Lightning" as "Wonder and Whitening!" 

But, in my opinion, it doesn't matter when this condition developed...what matters is how many funny stories have been produced from this irrational fear of mine. 

Ooooooh.

So, sometime last year, we had a fairly exciting storm (Read about it here ). It was so exciting that our Senior Walk was cancelled last year due to the weather. I, at that time, was a junior, and very, very afraid. I remember watching the weather channel obsessively. I never stopped staring at the repetitive radar. I felt my eyes grow wider and wider as the coverage on the weather became more and more intense. 

And then....darkness.

Of course, the lights went out. And we all know how I feel about the dark (See: Chapter Five: Bubbling in the Dark). So, of course, being the mature seventeen year-old I am, I ran to my mother. Tears streaming down my face, we both knew I wasn't going to sleep any time soon. Unless they drugged me. 

Yaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssss

So, being the mature seventeen year old I am, that night I laid in bed with my mom. (Shout out to Mom for always being the best!!) And I remember, lying there, listening to the thunder roar, and watching the lightning light up the room, saying to my mom, 

"You know, this is just great. All the things I hate in one day - Thunderstorm, Lightning, Tornadoes, Darkness...All we need is a giant bee to join the party!" 

And she laughed, and I laughed, and then she told me to suck it up and go to bed because I had school tomorrow. 

Oh yeah, good times.

Anyway, as the storm calms and my anxiety goes away, I realize that maybe there is a deeper reason why I don't like storms. Maybe it's because I can't control anything Mother Nature throws at us, and me, being a control freak, can't stand not being in control. Or, maybe, I fear something that has much more power that I could ever possibly possess.