Shingles flew off the badly weather-beaten house. The sky darkened with purple-gray thunderclouds. A brilliant streak of lightning flashed before my eyes, followed by a roaring clap of thunder. I cowered in fear and huddled behind the terribly over-grown shrubbery. Yet I was not alone. Something discreetly brushed against my foot. Nothing was there.


The cracked, guttural utterings from inside the house now screeched out to me. As my body shook vigorously in fright, the whole house careened abnormally in the wake of the howling winds. Suddenly, lightning streaked bright white filling the sky, as outraged thunder filled the air, pouring into my ears. The rain pounded the ground next to me, ripping the grass from their roots, and shattered the olden glass in the mansion looming above me.


The storm roared malevolently to me as the sky darkened even further. I fled from the shrubbery in an attempt to escape. Suddenly, lightning struck a tree next to me, sending it burning to the ground. I recoiled in fear with just enough time to save myself from the massive, now alive with fire, aged oak tree. I watched the spindly, old tree burn as it was licked away by flames. Soon, it was nothing but ashes and a few heavily-charred branches. The wind and rain quickly swept them away into the thick of the forest beyond. It was then that I realized something. My time was up. The sky turned completely black, the stars blinked out, and all was lost.