Wrong Person, Write Love.

Prose 006: 'Why I Remember You Every time It Rains'

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"No matter who they are, if you love someone, love them with all your heart. It may hurt you once they do not reciprocate it-- but that's better than having regrets for not being able to love them enough."
- Aries

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"I can still remember the way you stared at me as I told you about the legend of the rain. We were on our last outing for that school year then, something I never thought I'd be able to go together with you because we were just so different.

I was talking calmly while staring at the blue sky and brushing your hair with my fingers just like I always did when we were alone. You were like a kid back then, and I tried my best to be entertaining without sounding too childish.

The story of the rain was my favorite legend which I once read in Binibining Mia's book entitled Our Asymptotic Love Story. It was about a goddess who lived above the clouds, and who used to spend times watching the sunrise and sunset at a certain shore.

One day, she met a fisherman who offered her friendship, which later on turned into something more beautiful. They spent time sitting by the shore together; talking about things they never told anyone else about before.

At first, the fisherman didn't know that she's a goddess. But since she felt comfortable around him, she decided to tell him the truth.

He was surprised, but he accepted her still and they became even closer.

They've spent more and more time together, and the goddess always find herself staying at the land too long, anticipating for the time when she be with him again. She kept on waiting every day until one time she realized that she has already fallen in love with him.

She told him the truth, hoping that he somehow felt the same way too – and she was not disappointed. The fisherman confessed his love for her, and they almost lived happily ever after.

But then, one day came that the fisherman needed to leave because of his job. He told the goddess that he'll go to another city to fish. The goddess was sad, of course, but she knew that he wanted to prove that he can be dependable and responsible too.

And so the goddess nodded and told him, "Promise me that you'll come back. If you forgot about me, I'll cry real hard and I'll make sure that you will feel my tears."

The fisherman promised, and then left. The goddess watched every sunrise and sunset and stayed at the shore as she patiently waited for the love of her life.

However days, weeks, months, until years have passed. The fisherman never came back.

Worry and fear filled the goddess' heart, and she thought maybe something bad had happened to him. She finally decided to search for him and bring him back.

But then, she found him in a faraway city, coming out from a church and holding someone else's hand.

He already found someone else, and he seemed to completely have forgotten about his promise.

The goddess felt anger fill her heart and wanted to take her revenge. But then, she saw him smile and look at that woman the same lovingly way he used to do with her before. He looked happy and contented, and even though it broke her heart, she still love him so much that she chose to just let him go and be happy with the woman he now loved.

She went back to the clouds – just where she forgotten she belonged in, and cried. She wept so hard that her tears filled the clouds and made them heavier, later on forming into droplets and falling into the earth.

A raindrop fell on the fisherman's cheek, and he remembered about his promise to the goddess, and what she told him before he left.

"Promise me that you'll come back. If you forgot about me, I'll cry real hard and I'll make sure that you will feel my tears."

That, I remembered, was my secret message for you too.

After I told you that last line, I knew I looked so sad. I guess that was a foretelling, for I already knew what will happen to us next.

The rain fell that summer – and I truly understood how the lonely goddess felt.

- Aries, "Why I Remember You Every Time it Rains."