your old aunt, the great aunt that was still alive when you had a greater hold on your memories, was at that family gathering way back when you were five.

you were running from your cousins, playing hide and go seek, when you rounded that corner of the house to dive under the porch.

she was there. sitting on the porch, alone, and scary.

thin and wrinkled, drier than the dirt under your shoes, she was oldest person you had ever seen.

eyes that were cloudly (cataracted, you found out later) found you, settled on you standing there, catching your breath, listening for the screams and laughters of your cousins.

"you'll die when the sky is green," she said.

and the world stopped, or so it seemed in your five year old mind. the world stopped, and then the crickets came back, then the birds, then the cicadas.

and then your ten year old cousin tackling you, yelling, "haha, you're it!"

you rolled over to your back, looking up at the blue blue sky.

he got up, ran back around the corner.

and your great aunt, she never said another thing to you, and you never said anything to her, and she died when you were eight.

the sky was dark gray that day.

you look at it every now and again, looking for the green.

before bad storms, the sky turns green.

and you're not sure whether or not to believe in what she said, but there's a part of that makes your mind sum up the total of your life when it is green.

two days ago it was green, again.

then the lightning began.

you were driving fifty down a big street.

the rain came down.

and the people in front of you, they slowed down. twenty miles below the speed limit, pissing you off. they slowed down, five of them pulled off to wait it out.

the hail started.

and finally, you were able to pass the slow drivers, the scared drivers, and you sped back up.

your wheels hydroplaned. you lost traction.

and instead of being scared, you were relieved.

you wouldn't have to wonder every time the sky turned green anymore. it was over.

but the tires gripped the road again, the steering wheel stiffened under your palms.