Constant Threat of Downpour by James Valvis

Blue lightning whips the horizon. The man, on a Thursday night, sits alone smoking a cigarette, listens to the news. It’s the 8789th day of his life. He has spent the day waiting for a call he’s not expecting, an entire day. The phone rang earlier, but he didn’t move, just stared for two long minutes. Now he thinks about 9/11, that plane flying into the second tower. He felt something that day. Now someone on the news is talking about the flat tax. Or is it about being flat lined? It doesn’t matter. Does anything, ever, matter? The man lights another cigarette. At least there are cigarettes. They speed things and bring you closer to the end. Lightning strikes again, freezes the night sky like a camera flash, but it’s still not raining. It won’t rain, and perhaps it can’t rain, though it would be a relief from this rumbling, this constant threat of downpour. He brings the cigarette to his lips. Soon it’ll be the 8790th day of his life. The man rises, looks out the window while the television bounces azure images off the walls. No wonder the dead sleep. The man twists the cigarette out on the palm of his hand. It blisters but he doesn’t feel it. The phone rings again. He sets his hand on the black receiver. What has he left to lose? He picks up, but gets only a dial tone. The man lights another cigarette, inhales deeply. How can he explain this? he thinks, this dry cloud he has inside. The man returns to the open window. The television says the billionaire football owners won’t talk to the millionaire football players. Outside, more lightning, but there’s not a drop, not a drop of rain.

James Valvis is the author of HOW TO SAY GOODBYE (Aortic Books, 2011). His writing can be found in Arts & Letters, H_NGM_N, Juked, LA Review, Poetry East, River Styx, and UCity Review. His poetry has been featured at Verse Daily and the Best American Poetry website. His fiction has twice been a Million Writers Notable Story. He lives near Seattle.