A Story About Rain

The water ran down the man’s skin and washed away the dirt. Not even the water could cleanse his sins. His black hair dropped down to his shoulders. Only his eyes were darker than his hair and his eyes were as black as his soul. Her pale eyes watched those black ones and never once moved away from them. The rain gathered in drops on her lashes and dripped from loose white-blonde tendrils that stuck to her face. Her smooth ivory forehead rested against his, rough and sun-browned. Their hands were entwined tightly and each of their knuckles seemed to glow from the strain. Both breathed so softly you wouldn’t have thought they were breathing at all. But they were. Breathing with the rain. In a soft-spoken symphony all of their own.

His boots were slick and wet and his shirt was thoroughly soaked. As was the sheer white gown around her, so wet you could easily point out every freckle on her milky white shoulders. The grass smelt sweet and shone vibrant against the grey. The soil beneath was moist and black.

A tortured sigh drained from her lips, just audible above the steady rush that was the rain. “Please,” she breathed, and he wouldn’t look at her. He hadn’t for hours.

He did not speak. The rain had washed away any remaining energy he had had to.

“I believe in you,” she tried again. Her eyes betrayed no emotion but something in her voice was frantic. Her lips had barely moved.

Suddenly, there was an incredible Silence so heavy that both could feel it within their chests, crushing down on their lungs. She gulped, she gasped, and something fell, but it could have only been a raindrop. Whatever it was, it was purer than crystal.

With a sudden force, she threw down his hands and crashed into the earth. A scream came, shattering. It broke through the rain and tore at her hair and scratched at her breasts. And she fell at him and screamed, “Why won’t you look at me?!”

He tipped his head slightly. He moved so slowly, something burned within her. But all at once, something within her fluttered, hope and expectance, but they fell black over her shoulder and she let out a choking sob as he said hoarsed, “I can’t.”

Liar.