I Made the Wind Blow

“I’m feeling very powerful today,” I yelled, completely out of the blue and for no real reason at all, as I burst up from underneath the water in the center of the pale blue bottom swimming pool.

A feeling had come over me, just then, while I was seeing how long I could hold my breath. I rose, my right hand pinching my nose, my eyes scrunched tight, my left hand wiping away the saline droplets.

I can’t even go under the water without holding my nose, like I’m a little kid, but somehow I became overwhelmed by this force from within. It needed to come out.

“Watch this,” I continued, gasping for oxygen while I stood straight and waved my hands around in the silent, hot, summer air, which hung heavy and still, just above the water. Then I shouted the phrase that came next into my mind.

“Wind!” I screamed while wiggling my hands feverishly.

Just then a huge gust of wind rustled through the bougainvillea, the giant live oak, and a weeping willow, carrying a swirl of green leaves, little brown t…