Surprise Hail Storm

The clouds were black behind the store as I walked into work. Lightening could be seen in the distance and a woman was on her phone, anxiously discussing the flashes of light. Half an hour later, word flies fast that hail is coming down and we, customers and employees alike, run to the doors to watch. It starts small, people still coming in, then its blinding white and you cannot see a foot outside the door through the flat, round discs of milky white ice.

I go to the outer door to take a photo then a video. I’m greedy, trying to get in 15 whole seconds. Then the wind picks up, I stumble backwards, my phone snapping shut and I lose the video. People are outside on the bench, suddenly being pelted by the ice. I urge them in though I can’t offer them much comfort with the ice flying through the main door. So I turn and with hail in my face, I force the front door shut. People are standing in the entrance and the exit and in the vestibule between the doors. I have a customer, I must return to my counter.

The wind picks up, strong like a hurricane and the sliding doors fly open and hail flies in to land 82.5 feet from the threshold. My coworker dances as ice hits him. He laughs, we all laugh. My cheeks are flushed with excitement as the hail makes the best of my day.