10 The Rain dance
2.37, A.M. early, too early really to be awake but awake I was. I crept down the stairs, quietly turned the key in the lock and slipped out of the door into the rain. As I gently shut the front door I smiled to myself, my heart was beating but it wasn’t fear, it was excitement. Now the real fun was about to start. The rain lashed down and the street was occasionally illuminated by flashes of lightning; the thunder that followed was distant enough for me to feel quite safe walking through the rain. A black cat ran past me looking for shelter. I loved this time of night, the deserted streets, the strange orange glow of the streetlights, the stillness. I loved looking at the houses and wondering what the people were doing. Sleeping mostly but I wondered how others dealt with their insomnia. Were they playing online gambling games, making love to others or themselves, staring at the ceiling or making themselves hot milk?
For as long as I could remember I’d been going out walking when I couldn’t sleep. My room seemed to close in on me as I lay there staring at the rainbow patterns on the ceiling. I just had to get out. I turned it into a game, sneaking out without my housemates noticing, pretending I was on a mission. But it is only recently that I started going out naked. The hot weather had made the insomnia worse and I was sleeping naked so why bother getting dressed, why not go walking naked? The thrill, the freedom, the danger, the liberation, the surrealness all combined to make it the most unforgettable experience I’d had. Now it has got to the point where I am not sure if it is the insomnia keeping me awake, or the thrill of the naked walk.
Tonight in the rain it was special, the warm rain on my skin, the lightning and then the touch of flesh on my shoulder. For a second my heart sunk, I’d been caught in the act of being myself, I turned around expecting to see a policeman standing over me, but no it wasn’t a policeman but a beautiful woman who was also as naked as the day she was born, enjoying the rain on her skin and the thrill of finding someone else who dealt with their sleepless nights with naked walks.
Coffee Time Stories Page 5
