The air was thick and dead. I prayed for the hot summer air to move even just a little to make me feel like I was still alive. Tonight was supposed to cool down. The window was supposed to give us some freshness in the night. Yet we were there, motionless in the dark night, the stagnant summer air crushing us. If it moved just a little, I’d know we weren’t buried alive. The denseness in the room made me feel the blood pulse through my veins. It was the only sign I wasn’t lifeless, though I wished my blood was ice.
For a brief moment, I feel movement in the air. A promise of life. A comforting whisper through the window that we’ll be OK. It’s not enough to send a chill through the room but it’s a sign of life. That the crushing defeat of the summer heat has been challenged. It’s foe an underdog but one light on its feet and fit for the fight.
Nimble is the summer night’s breeze.