Thunder

*BOOM*

“MEOW!!”

Mira jumped as the first clap of lightning sounded loud and clear. Rubbing her arm from where she had fallen off the piano bench, she carefully got up off the floor and headed over to look out her window.

“What was that?!” Her mother called frantically from the living room. “Nothing, Maman, I just fell again!” She called back.

“Are you still practicing?”

“Yes!” She sighed. “I just sight read a whole section!”

Before her trip off the bench, Mira had been working on learning her piano piece for the yearly recital her school held. Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy wasn’t her favorite, but at least it wasn’t Fur Elise.

“Good,” her mother praised her, now standing in the doorway. “I’m going out to run some errands. Do you want to come?”

“Thanks, but no thanks.” Mira replied. “I still need to clean up the beginning of my song a little.”

“Alright, well if you remember anything you might want at the store, text me. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Kissing her on the forehead, her mother left the house in search of the nearest Publix.

Mira turned back to her window. She watched longingly as some kids splashed through a puddle. She’s always loved the rain. How it looks, how it sounds, how it feels. She can’t explain it. But she couldn’t go out now. She had to practice. So, letting out another annoyed sigh, she sat back down at her piano.

Her fingers danced over the keys as if they were tip toeing past a sleeping dragon. She got lost in the sound of her playing, focusing on getting each note and dynamic perfectly right. Halfway through her newest section, her phone let out an annoying ding. Slightly frustrated from messing up she reached for her phone from off the other end of the piano.

As she opened her phone to see who had texted her, she froze.

Randall: It’s another full moon tonight my Mirror

Randall: You know what that means ;)

A shiver went down her spine as she thought of what happened the last full moon. Starring at her phone for another minute, she left him on read. Yes, Randall was her boyfriend and yes, she thought she was in love with him, but Mira didn’t know if she could take it anymore. He was playing with her emotions in a way that was too much for her to handle. She wanted a way out, but it was like she was in a never ending maze of confusion.

She couldn’t breathe.

Setting her phone back down on the table, Mira went over to the window again, this time opening it and climbing out onto the fire escape. Leaving the window cracked, she morphed into her cat form and pounced over to the next roof. She kept pouncing and pouncing over the rooftops until she reached the park. There, she jumped down and shimmied her way through the gate.

Once in the park, Mira ran. She pounded and jumped through every puddle she could find. She meowed and hissed out all her anxious nerves and frustration. She didn’t stop until she reached the bridge.

The bridge was her favorite spot. Mira loved to think here. It was always so deserted and peaceful; and peacefulness is hard to find in Atlanta.

As she hopped up onto the rail, she noticed something peculiar about the bridge; there was a boy on it. And although he had an umbrella, it was closed tightly at his side as he held is head to the sky, eyes closed, feeling the sensation of the rain drip down his face. His dark brown hair glistened in what little light was passing through the clouds. The boy’s black high-tops were soaked. He looked like he wanted the rain to wash him away.

Curiosity killed the cat.

Padding her way silently along the rail, she came to a stop beside the boy. Getting a closer look at him, he was definitely about her age.

“Ça va?” Mira asked him, even though she knew he wouldn’t be able to understand her. Either her cat language or her French. It was common knowledge that no one but a morph in their morphed form could understand another morph when they were in their morphed form.

And yet, “Ça va bien, merci.” The boy replied, eyes still closed.

Mira gasped.

How did he understand her? Was he some new type of linguist?

The boy’s eyes flew open as another coup de foudre rang throughout the city.

Dark emerald green met deep deep blue as they stared at each other in shock. It was only then did Mira realize how attractive this mysterious spark was. After a minute, Mira morphed back into her human form, setting both feet down on the bridge. She was caught off guard again as the boy’s eyes widened even more. She decided to break the silence.

“You... you could understand me...?” Although she intended it to be a question, it sounded more like a statement. Like she had already known this piece of information before it had happened.

“It would seem so.” The boy breathed.

“Why aren’t you inside? It’s pouring.”

“Probably for the same reason you’re outside when it’s pouring.”

“Are you some sort of linguist?”

“No, are you?”

“Yes, but I would’ve been able to understand you anyway.”

“You’re French?”

“Yes, but I’ve lived in Atlanta my whole life.”

He came to stand beside her, looking out over the pond as the rain pounded it into a million ripples.

“You’re a luminescent too.” He said, studying the pond.

Mira whipped her head up to look at him in shock again.

“I can feel your energy.” He explained.

And Mira could feel it too. It was like she was being charged with positive warmth just being near him.

“I’ve never met another luminescent before,” She said, turning her body to face him fully. “Yet, somehow I feel like we’ve already known each other before.”

He turned to face her head on. “Would you want to know me again then?” His eyes were full of hope and genuine curiosity. But Mira couldn’t shake the insane sense of doubt she found there too.

“Of course.” She assured him, blushing a little as his eyes grew wide again. A small smile then split across his face as he held his hand out to her. Confused as to why her heart had just skipped a few beats, she took it. The tingly warmth she felt immediately spread throughout her entire body. She could tell that he felt it too.

“Sirius.”

“Mira.”

*BOOM*