The girl and the storm

"Woah! Clouds are moving so fast!"
"That's right dear. There is going to be a storm."
"Should I get chairs inside?"
"No need. It won't rain till midnight."
"You know mom, when I was a kid, I always imagined that storms bring along people. Like the wind is too strong and it forces people to come here."
"Well, that storm isn't doing its job lately if that is the case."

I laughed. Me and mom always have these kinds of conversations. I need to go to college next year and it makes me sad that I am leaving this village too. It's a small village in mountains, but majority of the villagers live in the flat area between two giant hills. I only know couple of people living up hill. Where do they even get their water? There aren't any wells in the hills if my memory serves me right.

"Estia, would you bring some water from the well?" 
"Woah, am I psychic?" I thought with a lot of enthusiasm. I couldn't hide the smile. "What are the odds?" I asked out loud.
"Odds of what?" Mom asked.
"Nothing! Be right back!"
"Such a lovely girl..." Mom mumbled into her chin. I barely heard her, but it made me happy. I smiled at her, waited for couple of seconds and then closed the gate and ran along the road.

"Man... this sucks! I forgot my shoes. Why did I think it would be great idea to run in my slippers?"
"You literally always do that!" A voice could be heard from the car passing by me. It's Claudia, my friend from high school. We were the biggest tomboys in our school. Always played sports like football and basketball with the boys. I remember one time we stole some fireworks from some store in the town near our village. We made posters inviting everyone to see fireworks at our makeshift summer festivals. Fun times. We were caught and grounded. Lately we stopped talking because Claudia is now living in the nearby town and hanging out with different people. She learned how to drive and got a boyfriend. He is a nice guy, I think. Never met him though.
"Wanna hop on? I can take you to the store."
"Oh no, I am not going to the store. I going to the old well."
"No way! I remember that place. Isn't kind of far from here?"
"Not that much. I can make it." I proclaimed with such confidence.
"Come on! I will take you there. We haven't spoken in a while, why don't we catch up?"
"Ah screw it. Why not?"

It was an awkward ride to say the least. I didn't know what to say to her. I live fairly boring life, in the, some would say, most boring village in the world. Everyone leaves it as soon as they go to college or for some job.

"I've missed you."  She said suddenly.
"Why haven't you called me then?"
"I... I just forgot. Life is moving fast in larger town."
"I know that much..."
"Are you mad?"
"I wouldn't call it mad. I am just sad. Not even sad, more of the feeling that some stuff is left unsolved." 
"What do you mean?" She asked with a lot of worry.
"You can leave me here. The well is in the forest right of the road." I left the car before she could say anything. As I said, I am not mad nor sad. I just feel like we needed some closure with our friendship. This just feels like she feels bad for me and wants to make me feel better. I don't want anyone to feel bad for me. I live a nice life. I enjoy it fully.

The water in the well was freezing cold. The wind started to pick up the pace.
"Why didn't I bring more bottles? I will need to go again tomorrow. We should just buy some water from the store... Maybe I should check if granny needs some water."
Granny is the old woman living in the hills. She can barely walk up and down the hill, that's why some people including our family visits her from time to time to check if she needs anything. I left my slippers besides the well and started running up hill through the forest. It's a shortcut to the granny's house. There is also another house right next to hers.
"Why don't they help from time to time? Tsk. It's starting to rain. Well, I am almost there, so let's hurry." 
I finally arrived.
"Granny! Granny! Gina? Are you home?" I started shouting because rain started to get louder. It started hitting some scrap metal in the garden louder and louder.
"She probably can't hear me. Ah man, I will get soaked. Not to mention my feet are starting to get hurt. Maybe I should check if anyone is home in the other house." I've never seen anyone at that house, though it's a nice house with large garden. Gate is kind of old and rusty. You can barely see that it is supposed to be yellow. I don't know why I felt so nervous getting closer to the house.
"Maybe it's haunted. It feels creepy. The mash of modern looking house and untrimmed bushes and grass." I said it out loud not caring if someone might her me. "Maybe I should just go back. This doesn't feel right. It has the same vibe as that time..." I remembered something from my childhood that I tried to forget. 
"It's the house. The house is giving me bad feeling. The colours. It is the same as that-" A loud honk interrupted my thoughts. I turned to my right and saw really bright lights coming from the car. 
"It's Claudia again." I said with some melancholy in my voice. "You don't need to follow me. I am fine by myself. Go back home! I. Am. Fine." I started to get visibly annoyed walking to the car and with every sentence I yelled even louder. Not something you want to hear from someone who you see for the first time. That's right. At that car wasn't Claudia, wasn't my mom or anyone from the village. It was some boy looking confused with his window rolled down.
"Looks like I was right. The storm does bring people to this place."  I said with my normal tone.
"Are you ok?" Boy asked cautiously.