ladyofastolat | Thunder, I think

I've just been lying awake for a while, trying to decide if I'm ill enough to let down a school I'm supposed to visit (or, conversely, ill enough that it's only right and proper that I don't bring germs into a school). Then suddenly, out of the blue, came this absolutely enormous explosion of noise - light and sound well-nigh simultaneous. This was followed by about 5 seconds of very loud drumming, as if of hail. There were no sounds of approaching thunder beforehand, and there have been no more sounds afterwards. It was actually very scary. Thunder doesn't do this, does it? But there have been no sirens, and there is no gaping hole where a neighbour's house used to stand, and no wreckage strewn in the garden, so I suppose it must have been a stray thunder clap picking on us. But I wish it wouldn't. I like thunderstorms, but this was not nice.